Friday, April 24, 2009

The Visit To The Homestead




What did we learn from Love? We learned patience. We learned understanding. We learned compassion. We learned hope. We learned, well.. we learned to love.

A few of us were able to go to the homestead of these four little girls. Picture the reality that four precious little girls, the oldest of which is five years old, living at this homestead alone. All alone. Caring for themselves – the most vulnerable of the weak. As we were talking to a neighbor, the girls came from their stick and mud hut to sit with us. They treated us like we were somebody special. Love went back and forth into the hut. She wanted to show off her “dress clothes.” She only had to change shirts once. That’s all she had. But she was proud of that. Looking back at pictures, the girls wore different clothes a couple of days – but they simply exchanged clothes with one another to have something different to wear. Four little girls sharing clothes. How proud these little girls are of their shared skirt!



Imagine what is was like to not have a mom or a dad there to make certain they brushed their teeth or washed behind their ears. How hard is it to fathom the emptiness they feel? Imagine the sounds of the night. Imagine the cold – the dampness – the darkness.

The visit to the homestead forever wrecked Natalie Mays, Alexis Vann and me. Almost a year later and we still find it difficult to revisit those raw emotions. But we are thankful to have experienced the things we did that fall afternoon. We looked into the eyes of Jesus that day – and I pray we remain broken and humbled with a spirit of compassionate action for the vulnerable and poor. God is good. He is faithful. He is love.





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