I already saw more than I bargained for when I was in Swaziland last summer. I saw orphans starving because they did not get enough to eat, babies eating their skin because their mothers didn’t have enough money for milk, babies who were burned and whose legs were broken from abuse. I touched premature babies the size of my hand, held nine-year-old girls who would go sell their bodies for food later that day, and witnessed the deadness that comes in a person’s eyes when they are overlooked, mistreated, and living in something equaling a garbage dump.
I am responsible for what I have seen, but God is not done showing me those He loves yet. I do not know what I will see in the next year. I know that what I have seen will multiply and what I am responsible for will multiply with it. I am afraid of the heartache that will come in the next year. This year is going to hurt, but it is also going to be filled with so much joy as God redeems situations and people that seem hopeless.
I trust you for the next year, Jesus. I trust you to be my Comforter when it seems like my heart is going to rip apart from the pain. You are in control, You are good, and Your are love – no matter what.
I will tell you what I see in the next year. It won’t always be nice or pretty, but it will be real. I pray that some of the faces and the stories will impact you as they will me. Let’s love these people that God loves through our prayers.
