As I sat there on the straw mat that had been rolled out into the dirt for us, baby in my arms, I leaned in closer to hear the words as they were translated, “Her husband died 2 years ago… she lives here with her 3 children… they stopped receiving help 2 months ago… they have no food… this is all they will eat today…” I looked down as this sweet boy clung tightly to a small square of coconut.
A widow at just 22 years old, this mother is faced with hunger, poverty, disease and overwhelming helplessness with no real solution to grab on to. The mud and stick structure they call home provides no protection or comfort and her small garden has failed this season, yielding nothing for their family to eat.
Here in Quelimane, Mozambique, this is an all-too accurate description of life in the village we are staying in. There are more children than there are parents to care for them, HIV/AIDS has taken its toll on the majority of lives, and witchcraft and Islam still have a tight grip on the traditions and ideals of the people here. For each new case of poverty or disease that we encounter, there are dozens more at the next turn.
I look around, at this family and those just like it and I wonder why my life looks so different from theirs.
Why I’ve been given this gift called life and so many here are deprived of it.
There is no real answer. So what can I do? I think about the people I’ve met, the children I’ve held and the hearts I’ve come to know here… I picture all of the times I’ve looked into their eyes and that’s when I see Jesus standing there with me. He’s looking into their eyes too.
The truth is, I can’t change the world. I can’t save anyone… but the love of the Father lives in me and whenever I let Him use me to love someone, even a single someone – then this, this is all worth it.
I ask Him to tell me something I can do and so far He just tells me to pray… to love the one He has placed in front of me. To stop worrying about the enormity of what I cannot do, and focus on what I can. My World Race will end before I see what He has planned for this family or this village. In just 5 days I will be on a bus headed for the next place and the odds that I will ever hold that baby again are slim… so when I ask, He answers again – pray.
So this time, as I start to feel my time here in Mozambique dwindling, I pray that my life is a vibrant example of what Christ can do to those of us who say “yes” to Him. I pray that each day I awaken with an urgent need to keep Him the most present and relevant thing in my life.
I pray that what I do with this gift called life, is live it in a way that is worthy of the calling I have received.
I pray that my days are as beautiful and meaningful and adventurous as God intended them to be. I pray, more than anything, that Jesus’ perfect and undeserved love is the reason for everything that I do; that I might glorify His Kingdom here in the time I’ve been given.
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1-3
