This month Team Wildfire is living at Kedesh Santuario – a home for abandoned and orphaned boys in Chamba, Mozambique. “Kedesh” means sanctuary and I can honestly say it lives up to it’s name. It’s breathtaking; truly a little slice of paradise.
Along with housing 30 boys from ages 6-18, our hosts John and Heather help support locals in the community. Though most of the boys have lost both of their parents to sickness, some still have one parent or grandparent living who is incapable of taking care of them.
For two brothers living at Kedesh, this is the case. Their mother passed years ago and their father, Orlando, cannot care for them.
Every Monday, 10 to 15 widows walk to Kedesh to pick up a weeks worth of rice, beans, oil, brown sugar and salt. This morning, Amber and I helped Heather and Antonio, one of the boys living at Kedesh, scoop the food and fill the plastic bags the women brought with them.
Afterwards, Heather and Antonio deliver the same food to a few widows and widowers who cannot make the walk to Kedesh from their homes. Amber and I joined them on this morning’s deliveries and met Orlando.
When he was 11, Orlando lost his eyesight from the explosion of a mine planted during the Mozambican Civil War. As years passed he learned to live with his disability. He got married, had four sons and provided for them by making socks at a factory nearby. He was doing okay until he suffered from a stroke which caused him to lose most of his mobility in the left side of his body. He cannot walk and has little grip in his left hand.
As we sat and talked with him, I admired the beautiful man God created him to be. With one eye completely closed shut and the other open but without sight, he spoke of his past. Even though he was confined to a wheelchair, joy poured out of him.
Heather asked Orlando if he had any pain in his eyes.
“The physical pain is gone,” Heather translated his Portuguese, “the pain now is thinking.” He explained how he remembers what chickens and goats look like so he can picture them in his mind when he hears them, but he knows he cannot actually see them. Tears welled up in my eyes as Heather dug deeper.
“Is it better you once could see and now cannot or would you rather never have been able to see?” she asked.
“It was good to see,” he said. “Though it is sad because I have never seen the faces of my children.” The tears began to pour out as I envisioned the faces of two of his sons I’ve spent much of my time with.
“They look very much like you,” Heather said. Orlando smiled.
Heather began asking him about the condition of his home. It had been built by the government and the roof has caved in. He explained how it floods with water each time it rains, soaking Him and everything inside. If he is lying on his mat on the cement floor when it begins to rain, he has to stay because he cannot move on his own.
“It’s actually very dangerous,” Heather told Amber and I. “If it rains enough before the water can drain, He could drown.” As we shared our concerns, Orlando continued to smile. He spoke about the love and power of our God and asked Antonio to bring him his braille version of the Gospel of John.
We sat for close to ten minutes as he flipped through, running his finger against the pages to find Chapter 3. He found it and we cheered, full of excitement to hear him read.
As he read about being born again in the Spirit and living in the light of God, I heard a familiar voice.
“Bless him, Racquel.” I smiled and nodded a silent ‘okay, Papa’ to my Heavenly Father.
He finished reading and Amber and I prayed complete healing over him after he made it clear he wants to see again and believes God can restore his sight. We said our “see-ya-next-Monday’s” and walked back the way we came.
As I sit and type this at 6 p.m. our time, it’s pouring rain. All I can think about is how Orlando is sitting in the dark of his home with no electricity, wet and cold from the downpour. I completely believe God is going to provide for him and his 18-year-old son who lives with him, but I also know God uses YOU and I to be the provision for His people.
John has come up with a rough estimate to replace the roofing on Orlando’s home. Just to buy the materials it’s going to cost $1,270. If we cannot replace it while we’re here because of the amount of rain and lack of time, we will have to hire a crew to complete it, which gives us a total of approximately $1,500.
You guys, I don’t have a lot of money. I have enough to spend about $100 each month for the rest of the Race, but I’m ready to give it all to this man. I can fast on travel days instead of buying food, I can go longer periods of time without washing my hair and I can make the two tubes of toothpaste and sticks of deodorant I have left last longer but I cannot leave Kedesh knowing Orlando is lying on a thatch mat on a soaking wet cement floor as he prays it doesn’t flood his home and drown him.
I hate to beg. But I am begging you to pray.
Pray and ask God if He wants to use YOU to be a blessing to his child. Any amount will help. Pray others will do the same and God will provide every single dollar to repair Orlando’s home. Pray for his healing – for his eye sight and a restoration of mobility in the left side of his body. Pray, pray and pray some more.
If you feel led to support financially, you can send donations via PayPal by choosing “send money to friends and family” to [email protected]. Also, if you have any questions, feel free to email me at the same address. Thank you so much for your support!
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