It was like any other day of ministry with my comrades of T-Squad – the air was hot, I was smelly, and orphans were tugging on anything and everything that was attached to my body. Our spirits were high as we ventured into this new Care Point set up by Adventures in Missions. Care Points are stationed all across the Swazi landscape and serve as centers for food and clothing distribution to the local children. Children as young as two years old walk for 2-3 miles alone just to get one meal a day to help ease the hunger pains intensifying in their already protruding bellies. Each Care Point is monitored by a “Go-Goâ€�, and older woman that cooks for and looks after the sometimes 50-100 children that would arrive on any given day. I thought my ministry for the day was going to be the children, but God, as always, had other plans. He was about to bring someone into my life that I would never forget…
When I saw her pushing herself down that long and dusty road to nowhere, I couldn’t help but wonder who she was, where she had been, or where she was even going for that matter. Accompanied by only a malnourished and starving puppy, this old Swazi woman, ever so slowly maneuvered her way down an endless dirt road that was littered with rocks, holes, and other debris. Her arms tired, her face hopeless, and her spirit wounded, this woman found herself abandoned in the middle of an old dirt road in a wheelchair that looked like it had been fashioned in the early 19th century. There was no cushion seat, no tires on the wheels, and no hope for this broken and lonely Swazi woman. With only one leg and two wobbly arms, she attempted to maneuver herself inch by inch down the long and treacherous road in a wheelchair that barely rolled on its broken and bent up rims. There was no telling how long she was on the road by herself in the hot African sun unable to move and get herself home. My squad mate and I ran over to her with the translator to see if we could help her out. We asked her if we could push her home and she politely smiled and agreed. The wheelchair was in such bad shape that even with Evan pushing and the translator and I carrying each of the wheels, it still refused to budge. I couldn’t imagine how we were even going to get her home, let alone how she was even expecting to get herself home by using only one leg.
When we finally arrived at her home, she ever so delicately climbed out of her wheelchair and onto the step of her doorway. Beaming from ear to ear, she was so thankful to have had help getting home, but what did we do next? What do you do for a woman who had nothing? How can you just walk away from the very thing that was responsible for breaking your heart for the first time on the race? We asked her if she needed prayer and when we did my life changed. She began to tell her story through some of the most heartfelt tears I have ever witnessed. Her name was Maria. An old Swazi woman of about 65 years old, yet the wrinkles carved deep within her face told of life that was much longer and harder than a simple number could reveal. Maria lived by herself in the middle of the hot African bush with no water, no food, and no community. Maria was disabled, alone, and scared, but this wasn’t always the case. At one time Maria had a good life. She had 8 healthy children and a husband who loved and supported her, but after falling victim to the endlessly harsh and unforgiving African environment her life dramatically changed. Maria helplessly watched as all 8 of her children passed away, possibly from HIV, sickness, or other tragic incidents. They left no children behind, just a deep wound in Maria’s heart. Her husband died just 3 years ago which in return left Maria alone – completely alone. One night while she was sleeping, three men broke into her house to rob and kill her. As she tried to escape, the men beat her legs with hammers so that she couldn’t run away. After they had robbed and beaten Maria, they left her to die on the very floor of the place she once called home. Miraculously, Maria survived but only after losing one of her legs in the near fatal attack. For three years, Maria has been surviving on her own, simply existing in this harsh and cruel world No joy, no happiness, and no one to care for her or take care of her.
As she told her story, tears poured down her wrinkled Swazi face. How do you pray for a woman who has nothing? How could I possibly tell her that God loved her when in fact her life reflected something completely opposite? Her children were dead, her husband was deceased, she was nearly murdered in her own home, and nobody cared or even knew that she existed. These are those hard moments where you have to pray with faith filled eyes, not simply through the eyes that were witnessing such a heartbreaking encounter. Maria was in fact a believer, and despite everything KNEW that God loved her. She didn’t feel like a victim and death did not have a hold on her. No, you couldn’t threaten Maria with heaven. She may be suffering now, but just wait…God has so much in store for her away from all of the pain, hunger, and suffering she has experienced in this broken and sinful world.
After Evan prayed, Maria never even asked us for money or a handout. Instead, in the midst of her sobs, she told us she just wanted a little bit of food – she was hungry. She used to eat at the Care Points, but because she wasn’t a child, they stopped feeding her. Like many of the elderly in third world countries, Maria was neglected, forgotten about, dismissed. A life that has been hard lived comes to the end of a journey only to discover that nobody cares. She was a 65 year old orphan with no family, no place to call a home, and nobody to love her. Not exactly the finish line someone would hope for after running such a long race, but today was going to be different for Maria. We cared. I cared. Evan prayed for her and promised her that we would not only bring her food the next day, but a pair of shoes as well. She managed to get around in her wheelchair in the dirt with only a sock on her foot. I don’t know how she did it, how she existed in a world that in return didn’t even know she was alive.
I’ve seen many things in my life after traveling to over 15 countries, but today my heart broke in a different way. I’ve fed orphans all over the world, seen the homeless living in cardboard boxes in the worst of slums, but I have never met someone like Maria. Someone who had absolutely nothing yet asked for even less. Someone surviving alone and forgotten about by the rest of the World. It made me reflect upon my own life back in Kentucky. I live my life overlooking the Maria’s in my own world. I’m busy worrying about ME, living for ME! The truth is, I didn’t have to come all of the way to Africa to find my Maria. I could have simply looked out my back door. The question is, why don’t we even notice? Why don’t we intervene when we see an injustice in the world? Why don’t we become a voice for those who can’t speak? Is it too much of an inconvenience for us? Is it going to take up too much of our time? Money? Or perhaps we’ll get our hands a little bit too dirty? All I know is that if I had to physically pick up Maria to have carried her home I would have done it.
