Swaziland, Africa. I remember a while back a group of friends and I went to see Shawn McDonald in concert at one of the local churches in Houston. I was new to my faith and all of my friends were going—after hearing ‘Open Me’ by Shawn . . . I was in! As I was leaving the church, World Vision had set up a table in the lobby with hundreds of photographs. I stopped and began looking at these hopeless little children and my heart sank. Long story short, I ended up supporting a child named Wilson and we happen to share the same birthday. Seven years later, I find myself seeing these hopeless little children in person sitting at a table with them, holding them and wiping their drippy nose as we create handprint projects to send back to their supports in the states. . . At first this moment was somewhat sweet. I can recall the first painting I received from Wilson and the joy it brought me as I placed it front and center on my refrigerator. I closed my eyes and as I was holding a child just began thanking God for bringing me out of the Egypt I was previously in and now Look-He’s got me around the world hands on, bringing hope and changing the nations. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. The classroom was empty. This seemingly sweet moment was quickly changed as I stood up and watched PRE-K children run across a highway into the dump yard in order to see what the trucks were dropping off. I asked the teacher if there was anything we could do, and she said “No, they’d rather eat spoiled meat than no meat at all� and I sat there in absolute awe at the desperation of a 5 year old. Watching through the barred windows I was in disbelief. This is not okay. This is not okay, I must have said it out loud because the teacher came up next to me and sighed and said, “This is Africa�. Seven years later, God has opened me to a Kingdom lifestyle. Fortunately I feel as though my life has many more encounters like the one above, Isaiah 61 says of me, “The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lords favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called Oaks of Righteousness, the planting of the lord that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities the devastations of many generations.� Isaiah 61:1-4　
The dump was overwhelmingly dangerous, broken glass, needles, drugs, and when trucks came with trash there were crowds of people to collect the newest trash, at any moment this place could break out in violence over the ripped clothes or spoiled meat.
