In Africa alone there are 15 million orphans due to the AIDS epidemic. Out of those 15 million orphans, 2.3 million are HIV positive themselves. I am talking about children all less than 14 yrs of age. Over 90% of these children are HIV positive because they are born to HIV positive mothers.
When you find yourself working in an orphanage with children that have been affected by these statistics, you find yourself in the middle of it and realize that the children are no longer just a number or a statistic, but they are your heart.
The Lord called me here to South Africa over a year ago (in Feb. 05). When I got here, I did not know what I was doing here. All I knew was that the Lord called me here and I was being obedient in that. The Lord said to me “Do what I have in store for you today. Serve the one I put in front of you today” and that’s exactly what I would do. I would wake up every morning and say “Lord what is it today” and that’s how I would live day to day.
One afternoon as I was sitting on my porch, I asked the Lord that question and the answer was different. He said I want you to be a mother to the children of Refilwe. I thought, Lord I can not do that. I am too young, I have no car, and I have no experience. He said back to me, “Obey and I will provide. Find your strength in me and I will provide”. So, I said okay to the Lord and I became the mother to 35 precious children.
Through this time the Lord taught me a lot through these precious children. By working with them, loving on them, and taking care of them day in and day out, they became more than kids I took care of, they became a part of me, a part of my heart.
As always, there are certain ones that tend to sneak into your heart and grab hold just a bit harder than the rest. In my case, (of course) it is the little girl that has the most scars on her… physically and emotionally. Her name is Randy and she is 10 yrs old. She has been living at Refilwe since she was 6 yrs old. When we found her, she was wandering around in a squatter camp all alone. She was crying, had on little, ragged clothes and she had sores all over her and marks where she had been beaten severely.
When I first started working at Refilwe she would not even talk to me because of all of the abuse and hurt that she has. After a while and after a lot of time with me pouring into her, loving on her and praying over her, she is where she will tell me anything.
There have been many times that I have lay with her on her bed while she was sick. I have prayed healing over her. I have cried and cried for her to be made whole and to not be sick anymore. You ask… what is wrong with her? Well… since she is an orphan due to the AIDS epidemic, she is at very high risk of being infected by her mother and being HIV positive. One of the signs that you are positive is that you stay sick all the time. Your body is too weak to try and fight sickness so you get sick very easily and aren’t able to get well.
Well… two days ago I found out that Randy is positive. I know that I have suspected it ever since day one, but I guess I was not ready for the harsh reality that it is real. It hit me really hard and I am having a hard time handling it.
Yesterday, I walked into the office and she was sitting there crying. When I asked her why, she said she missed her mom and dad. She has not seen them since she was 6 yrs old. So I held her and told her that Refilwe is her mom and dad and reminded her of how much we love her and named all the people that are there for her. Then I said, but most of all Jesus wants to be your Daddy. He wants you to crawl in his lap and cry to him when you are missing your daddy. He wants you to call Him your daddy.
I sat in that office and held her and cried. I prayed healing over her; I prayed that the enemy would take his hands off of her; I prayed that she and Jesus would have a different relationship and that He would be daddy to her. There is so much hurt in this precious child that only the Lord can heal.
She held my hand and asked why I left her and when was I going to be back for good. I just ask that you please pray for Randy. Pray for healing over her. The enemy has tried to take her from us since day one, we are rebuking this and he has no hold on her any longer. Pray that she will know Jesus as daddy. Also, please pray for me as it will be so hard for me to leave her (and all of my children) again.
“It was the kind of love that changes lives.” –Fields of the Fatherless C. Thomas Davis
“Do something daring to experience the joy and blessing of loving the poor.” –Fields of the Fatherless C. Thomas Davis
