Ah … Saturday morning … my ‘day off’- but that really does not happen here when I live in the midst of the people that I serve. I was just finishing my breakfast when I heard crying. From the sound I knew it was the cry of a little child. This in itself is not unusual when I live up the hill from the toddler house and overall in the vicinity of 175 children plus village kids. I looked out my window and saw one of our youngest boys, Benedito, standing behind the wall of his dorm with his pants off, which also is not totally uncommon here – the pants part. J Usually the crying lasts for a short time and then stops. This time it continued and got stronger. I looked out again and I just knew I needed to go check on him. The thought came “This could be messy!” Past this initial thought, knowing I needed to go, everything just kicked into gear. I grabbed gloves and baby wipes (a precious commodity here) and a bag for trash and ran out to him. There stood this chunky little guy with tears streaming down his face, shorts in his hands and a pile where he had diarrhea below him. Such a love for him sprang forth. I had no feelings of being sickened or queasy or disgusted by the task. (Actualy this is very much what mother’s of young children do all the time) The entrance to his home was just a short walk away but it was as if he was paralyzed by the trauma of the moment. I comforted his heart and then stepped him away from that spot and wiped him clean. I was about to walk him back to his dorm to get clean pants when I noticed that he had also stepped in feces … his own or others – I don’t know. The fact was – it was stuck to his foot and needed to be cleaned. Thankfully I noticed this just as I was about to pull my gloves off and was able to get it all clean too. I then walked him to his dorm, was able to tell someone what had happened and got him clean shorts. So there you go – a window into the not so uncommon parts of my world. It exposes some of the challenges here such as why are the children are urinating and defecating outside rather than using the facilities in their dorms and the plethora of problems and diseases this opens us all up to. But, those are side issues.I walked back to my room with this bag full of dirty wipes I had used to clean him. (I can’t just throw it in a trash can anywhere. Here when you take your trash out, you literally have people follow you, wanting to go through it. It is not just children but adult workers as well. We have to burn our trash, all of it, but it is especially important with the bathroom trash … including the toilet paper because it cannot be flushed …even when we do have running water. J We must burn it so they do not rummage through it and become sick and contaminated and spread that contamination. There have been times where I have seen children playing with tampon applicators, even having them in their mouths because this was not done. It is one of the very heart wrenching parts of life here. It also makes you very aware of what you throw away and if anything may possibly be of use to somebody. But this too is a side issue and not what is on my heart to write about, yet it seemed necessary to explain why I am carrying this bag of waste home with me.)

Beginning again – I walked back to my room with this bag of dirty wipes. As I walked backed my thoughts drifted to how many people each of us encounter in our daily lives who are paralyzed just like little Benedito. He had diarrhea, a byproduct of his own body and life which indicated internal illness and turmoil. Then he stepped into another pile that was either produced by him or somebody else. The combination of these things rendered him overwhelmed and immobile. Although there was some ‘cost’ to me it was really quite simple to free him from what had paralyzed him. With those around us it could be any combination of problems that are a byproduct of their own life and choices and/or “waste” from other peoples lives that has left them traumatized, overwhelmed and immobile. I know for certain that it is the heart of the Father for people to be set free … delivered. I know too that He wants to use you and me to do it. Is there a cost … sure. There is also such a reward in seeing that person walking in peace, released to be the person they were created to be.

My hearts desire is that God will continue to use me to free people who are paralyzed emotionally, spiritually and physically. I also have such gratitude for those throughout my life who have come in and loved me when I was overwhelmed and immobilized – paralyzed. This love freed me to walk into the plans of God for my life … such as being here in Mozambique! Thank you, thank you, thank you – to each of you!!!

Posted Saturday, 27 October 2007 at 10:58 pm in Thoughts & Communications

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