Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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Bringing justice in the world is not about vengeance. Bringing justice is about empowering those who have suffered injustice; by fixing what has been broken.
Dominique Van Heerden

At times I have to make the choice whether I am going to sit and question the Lord with the why’s and how’s of the things that we see or if I am going to put my faith and trust in Him and act. Sometimes I just want to ask why thirteen year old girls are raising their five brothers and sisters… why most of these kids have never seen or been held by an adult, specifically moms and dads. I know that God doesn’t want this for them. He hates to see an entire nation suffer consequences of actions of the flesh. He cries with me when He sees children sitting alone, life-less with a virus that has made them tired at the age of 6.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Swaziland is a fatherless country. The men have slowly died off or
abandoned  their families and have left all the responsibility to the
sick women and elderly Gogos to bring up the children, half of which
are born with HIV passed from their parents at birth.
 
Swaziland is overcome with hidden shame. AIDS is not talked about. Rape happens frequently but no one talks about it. Women are oppressed and most live an uphill battle. I met one HIV positive Gogo, at the age of sixty-five, that raises 12 children. People dying daily is something that has become less than a matter of eating and sleeping. Swazi goes on without grieving. Many bury their dead in the corners of their land and walk away with solemn faces. So much hidden pain and suffering bubbles under their tough skin.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
During the course of the Vision Trip, a women’s retreat was designed for the Swazi women to come to praise the Lord and share together in a safe place. It only took one courageous woman, Debbie from the U.S., to be completely vulnerable and honest with her story before the whole room wailed in anguish. The Lord used Debbie single-handedly to soften their heart’s and let the pain and stories flow into the room. Immediately following her testimony, a Gogo stood, cried, and shared that all her children have had to leave her home because her son will not stop
coming to the house to beat them.
She said she was scared for her life
and the life of her kids. Many heart
throbbing stories followed.

Woman were set free on that day.  They gathered around one another and cried out to the Lord on behalf of each lady.  They laid hands on one another to heal hearts.They discovered that they are not alone and that it is okay to hurt.  As they press into the pain we hope to encourage women to rally around one another and start a movement in their favor that will uncover generations of shame.