The Good Samaritan

I do not even have words for what my heart is going through right now. Our team just arrived back to where we are living for the summer and I have the urge to vomit and weep. Maybe if I type my thoughts I will begin to process some of what I saw today. As we entered the gates of our home away from home my anger also begins to rise. We are staying in a home that is what I would consider the Ritz Carlton…it is nicer than my apartment in the US. We have just returned from the worst slum I have ever entered and the worst conditions of an orphanage I have ever seen. My mind couldn’t have even started to fathom what we encountered today. How is it these two places can be such different worlds yet only miles apart? Today we journeyed across town to The Good Samaritan. This is an orphanage in the middle of a slum, which was started by a Kenyan businesswoman who felt the call to help the children of this slum. Mother Mercy is probably in her 50’s and she is poor as ever when it comes to money, yet ever so rich in Christ. I have never met someone with her passion and courage. Mother Mercy now runs an orphanage with over 300 kids from infants to high school students. There are around 5 or 6 bedrooms…one for Mercy and the babies…she wants to stay with them because she doesn’t trust anyone else to get up and feed them properly in the middle of the night…thus, Mother Mercy runs on about 4 hours of sleep a day. She gave Jenny, Emily, and I a tour of the compound. The 1^st room she took us to consisted of a total of 20 beds all pushed together, which sleeps 60 girls…that is 3 girls per bed in beds that are smaller than a twin bed. There were also two other rooms similar to this for boys. Next we were shown the high school boys’ room. The beds were so close to the wall I had to walk sideways to make it through…70 boys stay in this one very small room…even now it is unfathomable. As we were taking the tour we passed by 2 school aged kids holding a very precious baby. Mother Mercy stopped, pointed to George, picked him up, and gave him to me…if you remember back to my post from Imoni Orphanage I named Haboti at first George…funny, now I really got to hold and cuddle with George. George is one of the reasons why my heart cries out today. Mother Mercy rescued him two days ago from somewhere in the slums. George is two years old, yet he looks like he is maybe 8 months old. Mother Mercy placed him in my arms and he wrapped his tiny arms around my shoulders and neck and gripped on like nothing I have ever experienced. He laid his precious head on my chest and just rested. I couldn’t help but feel the quiver of my bottom lip and tears begin to swell in my eyes. Life isn’t fair. Life is hard…my life is easy and right now I just want to cry, scream, or be sick. I will never forget the site of this place, let alone the smells and the flies. My heart is so thankful for this courageous woman who is trying to save lives…not just physically, but spiritually as well. But my heart also cries out for God to bring justice and to love these kids in a way that brings joy to their hearts when nothing else will because people and the world have failed them. I want to scream at the top of my lungs, “Why doesn’t somebody help them!?! Why God, Why God…It’s not fair God!” I have so much and these children literally are living in their own filth in shambles with rags on their precious bodies. I want to give all that I have, but what will that do? Wealth helps, not that I am wealthy, but wealth isn’t the answer. Love is…the love of Christ conquers this…Satan has not won…hearts are being transformed and I pray with all my heart that people like Mother Mercy would not give up the fight…that they along with many others would rise up and fight for the hearts and lives of the children of the world. So now I sit typing on my Mac sitting in a cozy room across town from these children…I’m in the same country, same city, but I might as well be another world away from them. My heart doesn’t understand, maybe it never will, but I will not loose hope. I will not allow Satan to cause me to doubt my God, for God is my God. I will put my faith and trust in Him even when life is not fair and when situations in life make my heart and mind scream out. Here in Africa my heart longs for Jesus. I long for heaven…for no more suffering and sickness…for redemption and for sin and evil to be no more. For today, I will weep and cry out to God for mercy and love. Forgive me Lord of living so complacently…teach me to live for you…teach me to pray for the nations and for your kingdom to come.

Today I ask you, as my brothers and sisters in Christ, to cry out to God on behalf of His children. Don’t forget to pray for justice, compassion, mercy, and love…for Christians to rise up and give their lives (wherever they may be) for Christ to advance the kingdom of God. I beg you to not become so wrapped up in your own lives that you forget to cry out to God on behalf of the nations. Never forget the power of prayer…for we serve a powerful and merciful God…let our hearts not forget God’s goodness, love, and mercy.