October 4, 2012
At first we weren’t aware of how bad it was, or just how big
the flames were.
Playing games in the prayer hut with the kids, we laughed
and ran and sang. We taught them new games and giggled when they made it their
own version, as most kids do. Johnny came down the hill and told us the fire
was back and he needed to guys to come help immediately. They put out fires
last night so none of us really thought much of it. The other girls and I
continued to play “Red Light Green Light” with the little brown children we’ve
grown to love.
When Vanessa and Carrie came down to the prayer hut with the
babies, I decided to go check on Liz
and Amy who were ministering
to the house mothers of the orphanage. I had on my favorite skirt and new
earrings. My hair was clean, I smelled fresh, and I actually wore makeup. I
walked into the kitchen to boil eggs and I knew something was wrong. As I
looked out the window, I could see black smoke in the distance. I walked
outside to take a picture as it rose from the tops of the trees. “I hope they
get it put out soon,” I casually thought to myself, “it will be lunch time
soon.” Not long after visiting with the ladies in the living room, Bex (a staff
member here at Michael’s Children’s Village) came in and said the flames were
spreading and she’s not sure if we should start getting stuff out of the houses
or not. Walking back into the kitchen, I looked out the window again and knew
the flames must be growing because I could see their shadows in the sun.
I grabbed my camera and walked outside to take pictures. As
soon as I got to the door I could feel heat coming all the way down the hill
and I knew it was bad. I intended on taking several pictures but before I could
take more than a couple, I realized, “Oh my gosh. This is for real, and they
need more help.”
I handed off my camera and immediately ran toward the fence
to see what I could do. I started by running a water hose through the fence but
it wasn’t long enough. We started filling up huge buckets and pots and anything
else we could find with water and relaying them out to the boys. By this time,
all the girls were involved as well as some of the older kids from the
orphanage.
After much heat, lots of sweat, and many tears and prayers
for rain, we got all the flames put out. Although it was intense and hard work,
it was so good to see our whole team drop everything they were doing to run and
give themselves to help. Everyone played an important part in getting the fire
put out and later we celebrated with ice cream.
We got showered and began to rest. It was so nice to be
clean and lay down but then Liz ran in and said, “The fire’s back!” So
immediately we jumped up, threw on clothes and ran out to start the process
over again. Thankfully, it didn’t take as long to get them put out this time
and before long we were back inside telling God we couldn’t handle any more
fires.
** It is difficult to upload pictures right now because Internet is so unreliable. However, when I’m able, I will show you how big the flames were!
October 5, 2012
God must have listened. This morning is because this morning
it began to rain. It didn’t last long but it was just enough to cool off the
day and keep more flames away.
Please continue to pray for Michael’s Children’s Village.
That the fires would stay away and that God would send armies of heavenly hosts
to protect this property from flaming arrows of satan, literally.
