NO MOMMY
Earlier this week, I was visiting an ADVENTURE IN MISSIONS BLOG and this posting caught my eye. It hurt my heart deeply to think of a little girl, just a bit younger than my T and just a bit older than my baby hobbit, not having a mommy and facing life as an orphan in a country ravaged by AIDS/HIV, hunger, crime, and abuse/exploitation of children. With permission, I share this important message with you.
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I've gone into the mission field before and have come away appreciating the things I have at home. Like carpet. I love the soft feel of carpet beneath my feet in the morning when I tromp from my bedroom into the kitchen for my morning cup of coffee. Ohhh, and I love my cozy goose-down comforter! I can crawl into bed and sleep like a baby under that warm comfort! But I can honestly say that I hadn't yet been truly wrecked by the things I have seen. They have come as a shock, no doubt, but I haven't been changed by them. Well, until now...
After debrief ended, our teams were given the reins to find ministry on our own. Our little Media family loved this since we've been separated the majority of the time thus far. Telfer received an email from his Real Life Leader, Cassie Morgan, with an instructional plea to find a little girl named Donzola. Cassie had spent time here in Swazi loving on this particular little girl and wanted us to pick up where she left off. So, we did. Over a week ago, we set out to find this precious little orphan girl. We stopped at a couple of Care Points, but no one had heard of a girl by the name of "Donzola." Then Pastor Walter (the man we're staying with) told us he might know how to find her. He took us to his church the next day and spoke with one of the women who served there. And guess what? She knew Donzi! She told Pastor Walter how to get there, so we piled in the car again and drove to her property.
Donzi has one of the most precious little faces you've ever seen. Her eyes smile whether her mouth is or not and she carries a sense of playfulness in the way she carries herself. That day we first set eyes on her, she walked confidently up to us in her red galoshes and fell into our arms to be loved. This was the little orphan girl that God sent His church to love and care for. This little girl with no mommy and no daddy is being told by the Lord, "I will never leave you nor forsake you. Though your mother and father may fail you, I never will." It's not just Donzi; it's all the kids we've held at the care points. I was holding a little 5 year old girl named Daly when one of the Go-gos (Grandmothers) told me that she had no mother.
No mother? I held her close to my body and watched her breathe as she slept with her mouth wide open and drooled a little onto my jacket and thought, " no mommy?" That's when my heart began to break.
I grew up with a beautiful and loving mother. I still remember falling asleep in her arms, rocking in the chair as she sang me to sleep. I remember her love for me and how safe I felt with her. All these memories came to my mind as I held this little girl in the same way, but knowing that she doesn't have a mom to run home to broke my heart. So I did what the Lord was doing and held her and kissed her and told her she was beautiful and loved. I told her she was precious and innocent and free to dance and be loved. I told her what the Lord was telling her. I was His voice, His arms and His heart telling his precious daughter how very much He is in love with her.
My heart felt a multitude of emotions; sad and angry at the injustice of this and filled with an inexplicable and all-consuming love. If I can be the arms of His tenderness and the voice of His compassion so that He can show these precious children the fullness of His love for them, then I will give up everything I can to do so. I have never experienced something more precious and selfless than when He uses me to display His heart to the world. And to think, they are so many more children waiting to be held and waiting to know the Father's heart for them! That's the Great Commission. That's the Heart of God! That's why David danced naked in absolute abandonment and worship. And that's why we give up our lives, take up our crosses and follow Him.
http://www.sethbarnes.com/index.asp?filename=no-mommy+
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