I’d like to tell you a story. This is not just one story, but it encompasses many stories that happen every day around the world in the places that we’ve forgotten.
There once was a boy named Sipho. Sipho is 8 years old and lives in the bush in Africa. He has 2 younger sisters and a baby brother. He wakes up every day in a small hut barely large enough to hold his family. His mother is sick with HIV/AIDS. His father is nowhere to be seen. He is told that his father is away at work and that he will visit him very shortly. The sad, harsh truth is that the father only visits about once a year, primarily to impregnate his mother. He is not faithful to her and perhaps that is the very reason why the mother weighs roughly 85lbs curled up on her bed and infected with AIDS. The baby brother passes away because of malnutrition and pneumonia. The mother weeps. She can’t walk to the funeral because she lacks strength. A gogo carries her. The slaughtered goat and feast following the funeral bring no solace to the mother.
The gogos speak to Sipho and his sisters. They explain how life is hard and that sad things happen. They tell Sipho that his little brother is in a better place. Sipho asks if he can visit. They tell him not yet. He must stay and watch over his sisters and his mother. Every day, with their mother wasting away, Sipho and his sister visit the Carepoint to receive a ration of mealy-meal. It’s hardly enough. There is no water and no money.
Very soon Sipho could become the man of the house. He is only 8 years old. Where does his childhood go? The mother’s health is failing. If she dies, bad things WILL happen. Sipho and his sisters could potentially be molested by the evil men that lurk in his neighborhood. They soon could be infected with HIV/AIDS and they are defenseless against these bigger men. They do not have a way of getting into an orphanage. They are stuck in their circumstances.
This is a fictional story. But these stories are REAL everyday. I bear witness and testify to them as do my other teammates. This place is hurting and needs healing. We just recently attended the funeral of young Moses that I wrote about in my last blog. He died in the hospital 2 days ago. How many more will die while we stand aside and watch? We have sufficient resources to actually do something. What kind of Christians are we? I ask myself the same questions.
His life has changed us. We are compelled to act. The land needs workers. Will you respond? Will you leave the blessed life in the US to be with those who need you? They need the love of Jesus. And they need their needs met. This is the time to act.
Please pray for Pelile (Mother of Moses) and the other children. Please PLEASE think about a way that you can act. You can email me or Gary Black with G42 ministries.
Thank you Lord for the blessing that you gave us in baby Moses. Thank you for using his life to change the world.
