So I am in Africa right now and it’s definitely not Asia. The transition has been a little difficult but my team and I are adjusting. This month we are in Singida, Tanzania. We are working with street children whose parents have abandoned them or have died of HIV/ AIDS. Each day I feel like a human jungle gym, tissue and sleeping mat. It hasn’t changed my mind about wanting kids but I am learning how to love them. I am learning to love like the Father loves His children.
During ministry we have tons of children that come and play with us at the church. There is this one girl in particular I have come to love. She is a Muslim girl named Shakeria. Every day last week she would come to the church to play with us and each day I would just speak life over her. I tell her about Jesus and that she is going to become a great woman of God. So last Thursday, I was talking with Hannah, a fellow squad mate and we hear Shakeria crying. We both jump up to find her. As we are walking up to her this woman comes and beats her with her book bag. Her head busts wide open and blood starts pouring out. I can’t explain the rage that came over me. Both Hannah and I told the woman to back up as we rushed Shakeria into the sanctuary. Her white Hajab was stained red and such a pitiful sight. Thankfully Hannah is a nurse and was able to stop the bleeding. The crazy woman ended up being her mother and the whole scene was because she lost one of her school books. Social Services does not exist in Africa and it was so hard letting this little girl who got the crap beat out of her, go back with her mother.
After that I couldn’t help but pray. My intent was to pray for Shakeria and her protection but in the same moment the Lord showed me his heart for this woman. The same woman I wanted to hit myself the Lord loves so dearly. It was so crazy to see that. The sad reality is that when she got home she probably received a beating herself, which my pastor said is common in Muslim households.
It amazes me how much the Lord loves us. We do some pretty messed up things but He still wants us. He still pursues us and wants us to follow Him. I pray that t I continue to love these people like our Father loves them and I trust the Lord that this family is going to know Him.
Colossians 3:12-14
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and if one has complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
** I still need $ 1,814 to make my last and final deadline March 1st. Consider partnering with me financially or in prayer. Thanks guy! **
