This is the poorest children’s home I have ever been to and I have seen some pretty deprived orphanages. There was no running water for 3 days, a lack of food, roaches over all the cabinets, plates and silverware fit to be in the trash, intermittent electricity but smiles everywhere.
Mama Edna has given her life to these children who are from the streets. She even welcomes us like we are her own children. All day she cooks, cleans, prays, and speaks truth into the youth. The ages of the kids are 7 to 16. She lives here and has no one her age. Being full of joy and gratitude she serves the youth, worshiping God in all she does. Curiosity fills the conversations I have with her. Her desire to learn is contagious. Under the smoked filled shelter, she sits stirring sudsa. She jokes with the kids to bring smiles to their faces. She washes their clothes and sews their shoes. She has no fear because her faith in God is like a mountain. The youth call her Mama. Her life is not glamorous but it is powerful. She is a Proverbs 31 woman!
I Picture of Mama Edna stirring Sudza.The past week I have been at Thuthuka. I love it here! At 6am Emily and I get to do devotions with the girls before they go to school. Then we plant and weed at the most beautiful garden I have ever seen. The garden is full of carrots, onions, and greens. At 10am we help the boys do devotion (eight of the boys can’t go to school because they are too far behind and need to catch up). We go over scripture, talk about what it means and how we can apply it to our lives. After lunch we get to teach the boys!!! I can’t tell you how much I enjoy it. It can be overwhelming in the fact they have absolutely nothing (even scraps of paper are hard to find) and they are really far behind, but every little bit helps. I am learning to be more creative and desperately relying on God to give me ideas of where to even start and how to reach them.
After the lesson we hang out with the kidos. They taught me how to play the marimba! Seriously if some of these kids were in America they would be protégée musician…I am not joking! During the evenings we have gone to Bible study with the church that is associated with the home, or have a service here. Getting to know the kids and their hearts have been the best thing of it all. They are so incredibly eager to learn and come up to me and ask me to teach them things.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds in the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they?� Matthew 6:25-26
My prayer is that this children’s home will get a teacher who can stay here for a longer time and really pour truth and knowledge into these kids. God has His hand on this place and I know that He is providing for them. Praise God for the people who have given and devoted their life to change so many of these children’s lives.
