“…I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20
It was in a little village in Mozambique named Nhambita that I met two little girls who stole my heart. One morning, a woman came to our camp asking us, through our interpreter, to come pray for her children. She told us they were recovering from a horrible bus accident that had killed some people and seriously injured others. So, we followed her down the dirt road to their little hut. What I saw when we arrived startled me…
I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this… two girls sitting outside with swollen, undressed wounds oozing from the sides of their faces. One of the girls’ eyes was swollen almost completely shut. But what was more obvious than their physical wounds was their body language. Their hands were folded in their laps, their eyes were downcast, and when we approached them, they wouldn’t even look up at us. Our hearts hurt for them.
Their mother told us their names are Florencia and Boi. Florencia is 11 and Boi is 9 years old. There is no doctor, except the local witchdoctor, in their village, let alone a hospital. So, when they were in the hospital, it was hours away, and from the looks of things, they were released with no access to things to help them heal… no clean water, no sanitary items to prevent infection, no rehabilitation (Boi’s right arm could barely move.) I can’t imagine being in a situation like that and not having access to the medical care I need. I am so thankful for the medical care I have access to in the US.
We all knelt down so we could look into their eyes. They are such beautiful girls. We prayed for their wounds and their hearts to be healed in the name of Jesus. We told them they’re beautiful and God himself says they are beautiful. We shared with them: “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” Psalm 139.
I started to feel very protective of Florencia and Boi. I felt about them the way I felt about Ivannia and Erika in Honduras. We invited them to a youth program we did on the street for the children in the village each day. We would sing songs (sometimes in Portuguese, the national language) and tell them about God’s love for them. Almost every day Florencia and Boi came to the program and every time they did, we walked them home afterwards. I felt like if someone tried to hurt them, I would end up being deported from Mozambique….
We went to their home every day to pray for them. As the days went on, something wonderful happened…
Their wounds healed (even without bandages), they were able to move around more and more (even without rehab), they began to hold their heads up, and the best thing…. they began to smile. In fact, when we would go to their home, they would look up at us and smile. Initially, when they were coming to the children’s program, Boi would wear a covering so no one could see her wounds, but one day we had all the other children surround them and pray for them. After this, neither one of them tried to cover up their faces anymore.
I’m thankful God used us to show His love to these girls. One thing I have understood more and more on the Race is wherever we go, that’s where Jesus goes. If we go to minister to little girls who are broken and wounded, then that’s where Jesus is going… and that means ALL things are possible.
Wherever you go today, remember God has promised He is with you, and if God is with you, wherever you go, Jesus goes.
Pictured Below: Florencia, me, Boi, and their little sister
