After a much needed night of rest in actual beds and a
hearty Ugandan breakfast (pass the beef sausage, please), our team hit the
ground running. The children were ready
for us, and armed with bouncy balls, bubbles, and nail polish, we had a great
morning of play time at the church. As I
blew bubbles the children would swarm around, giggling and reaching to pop
them. I held the bubble wand up to one
of the older girls and she blew, hard at first and we all got sprayed with no
bubbles. Oh I wish I could capture their
laughter and send it to you! She tried
again and much to the delight of us all, a steady stream of bubbles came rushing
out. Around the circle, the girls began
to say to me, “Even me, mum, even me…”
It was their way of asking for a turn, but my heart was pierced with the
thought of something deeper. The wheels
in my brain just kept churning, and that two-word phrase echoed in every event
of the day.
Before lunch, the mission team rode out to the farm land
nearby. Thanks to some divinely appointed
donations, Ebenezer Baptist was able to purchase this land recently and now they
grow crops—maize, avocados, gnuts (which are like small peanuts) to feed the children. The church leaders gave us a tour and asked
us to help harvest some of the corn.
While in the fields we prayed for the crops and we prayed for the
spiritual harvest that we know God is preparing for the coming week. Even when walking through a corn field here,
white people stand out and attract a lot of attention. Before long, we had some curious followers,
half hidden in the wild lantana, peaking out for a wave and a smile.
Back at the church, lunch time was simply overwhelming. Instead of 2 lines of children, there were at
least 4 or 5. I felt the heart ache creep
up like a lump in my throat with the speculation that there wouldn’t be enough
food. Then midway through lunch service,
a rain storm blew in and all the children ran into the church tent to take
cover. LC and I sat down in the middle
of a mob and just started talking with them.
We talked about all sorts of things.
They are fascinated with our skin, freckles, and hair not like their
own. I caught more than one child with
the back of my hand pressed to their nose, smelling the remnants of my fruit
scented hand sanitizer. We talked about
how we are different, but also how we are the same in God’s love for us and our
need for him…
After the storm passed, some of us went to the local
hospital for a tour. One of the church
leaders, Mike, is a nurse there, and he was our tour guide, and later, our
shoulder to cry on. I don’t think I can
really express the intensity of what we saw, but we visited the children’s
ward, gynecology, and the neonatal ward.
There are on average 30 babies a day born in this hospital. So many children are suffering from sickle
cell and diseases that are preventable with proper nutrition and vaccinations. We prayed with mothers and babies,
grandmothers, and fathers, and the desperation in their eyes, the weariness,
and the worry was more than I could take.
I can never un-see what I saw there.
Those of us that went to the hospital left there broken.
After we returned from the hospital, we had more time to
play with the children. Then we took a
walk around the village. Although the
area is not that big, it was a seemingly endless maze of rough brick buildings,
muddy streets and children, children and more children. Along the way Mike told me that approximately
20,000 people live in this area, a substantial percentage of them believed to
be orphans. Then he joked that he felt
like he was holding hands with all 20,000 of them on our tour. Funny, but it did feel that way. They just couldn’t resist the chance to touch
our arms, get a smile or wave or a hug from one of us. And they were especially drawn to our
children—Drew, Jackson, Landon, Carson, and Nathan, who have astounded us all with
their willingness to volunteer, their eagerness to build friendships, and their
love for the Lord. The church leaders
were so pleasantly surprised by the youngest members of our team and said that they are
part of them now, 5 more children of Ebenezer.
Watching them today, I just kept thinking—Exactly! This is it, this is why God brought us all
here. Indeed, we are all children of
Ebenezer because we are all His children, adopted into the family of God by the
saving power of Jesus…
Yes, child, even you.
Even you, child on the farm, surrounded by maize, gnuts, and your hungry
belly’s only hope. Even you, tiny baby
in the hospital born too soon, into a world with very limited medical care. Even you, precious orphan of the slum, abandoned
and left to suffer in the dirty gutter.
You are loved by a God who formed you in your mother’s womb, by a Savior
who died for you, and by the Spirit who longs to walk with you along the dusty
road. Yes, even and especially you.
Sherri
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