This is a post I found today on Tom Davis' blog.
January 28, 2008
The Suffering Jesus
Today, I saw Jesus suffering in the eyes of an orphan named Nothando living in extreme poverty. She's also malnourished, uneducated, and has little hope of a future. Then, I saw the face of Christ in a man who is dying of AIDS. He cannot get up and lives in a 4 foot by 4 foot shack with nothing to eat - just waiting to die. It broke my heart.
Our other team was in the Low Veld today getting their hearts wrecked. I just got off of the phone with them and they told me they visited eight orphans living all alone, no food, water, and little hope. Two of these orphans are crippled and sit in the dirt all day. The widow who was taking care of them just passed away two weeks ago, now it's just the children.
The needs of Swaziland are so many. The pastor who preached on Sunday morning entitled his sermon, "We are dying like flies." They are. It would be hard for me to believe if I wasn't here and seeing it with my own eyes.
The hope here comes in the form of the faith you see in the people. The pastors, like Pastor Walter and Pastor Sam, who are being Christ to these orphans and widows. They are planting churches in places everyone else refuses to go. They take food to the hungry, everyday and as church they do home visitations to the dying as a congregation on Sunday mornings before service begins. Amazing people who are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Please pray for us. The ministry here is heart breaking, but our presence here is important and needed. God is doing great things in the midst of the poor in this country. Thanks for your love and prayers. Internet is bad here, but I'm updating when I can.
The Suffering Jesus
Today, I saw Jesus suffering in the eyes of an orphan named Nothando living in extreme poverty. She's also malnourished, uneducated, and has little hope of a future. Then, I saw the face of Christ in a man who is dying of AIDS. He cannot get up and lives in a 4 foot by 4 foot shack with nothing to eat - just waiting to die. It broke my heart.
Our other team was in the Low Veld today getting their hearts wrecked. I just got off of the phone with them and they told me they visited eight orphans living all alone, no food, water, and little hope. Two of these orphans are crippled and sit in the dirt all day. The widow who was taking care of them just passed away two weeks ago, now it's just the children.
The needs of Swaziland are so many. The pastor who preached on Sunday morning entitled his sermon, "We are dying like flies." They are. It would be hard for me to believe if I wasn't here and seeing it with my own eyes.
The hope here comes in the form of the faith you see in the people. The pastors, like Pastor Walter and Pastor Sam, who are being Christ to these orphans and widows. They are planting churches in places everyone else refuses to go. They take food to the hungry, everyday and as church they do home visitations to the dying as a congregation on Sunday mornings before service begins. Amazing people who are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Please pray for us. The ministry here is heart breaking, but our presence here is important and needed. God is doing great things in the midst of the poor in this country. Thanks for your love and prayers. Internet is bad here, but I'm updating when I can.
God has been putting Prayer on my mind lately--just a recurring theme that keeps popping in my head. I had to miss church b/c Haley was sick, and since Vince is doing St. Augustine's Confessions, I really wanted him to go. It is basically a long prayer that we've been reading together. Then, I guess church was incredible...Dan Rudman spoke on Nehemiah and it was about prayer, which in the end, had Vince in tears! Two good girlfriends of mine gave him heck, which made me laugh. You can download the sermon on http://www.gepc.org/. I don't know if its up yet or not, but I can't wait to listen to it. When Vince told me what it was about we were both in tears. Honestly, prayer has been very hard for me since Brandon died. Two long years of drought it seems like. About a month or two ago, my friend had a crisis going on and we got together and prayed...prayed like I haven't prayed in a long time...tears all over prayer! And that night, maybe right as we were praying...that prayer was getting answered. And it was a HUGE prayer! To see God's work in it was and is amazing to me today. I don't know why it should be amazing, but I guess sometimes, when God doesn't answer prayer the way you think He should, you sometimes give up hope or try to take matters into your own hands. Anyways, I really hadn't dwelled on God's faithfulness to answer my prayer, but I finally got around to it yesterday. Just seems like God has been beating the subject of PRAYER into all areas of my life recently.
" In the same was the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." Romans 8:27-27
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