Darkness and Light

A note on my calendar says: “You’ve got to go in the darkness in order to bring the Light.”

That’s exactly what we are doing in a village nearby. In my latest newsletter I wrote about the women and children’s ministry Grace and I do in her area. The more we get involved in the lives of the people of that community, the more we discover the darkness.

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Yesterday I came home, very downcast. The total poverty struck me. Poverty in many different ways. Spiritually, emotionally, physically.

The purpose of this blog is not to pull you into my sense of being overwhelmed by the needs here, but to encourage you to pray for some specific issues we are facing.

1.       Every week we teach more than 200 children the Word of God in the shade of the big tree at the Bwalo (village meeting place). Since the rainy season has started we are looking for roofed accommodation/ shelter. We were building a relationship with the church in that area and asked if we could work together, also using their church building during the rainy season. After much very formal communication we received a final letter that we cannot use their building. What must we do now? Pray! Maybe God can keep the rain every Thursday from falling in on the kids so that the teaching of His Word will not be hindered. Pray also that over time the relationship with the church may improve.

2.       Yesterday I taught the story of Gabriel’s visit to Mary. One of the applications was Mary’s example of purity. Fact is, in many African communities, youth has ‘tried’ sex before marriage. It’s customary that every girl who had her first period gets a week of ‘teaching’ in a special hut about how to ‘perform’ for a man. Boys are being taught how to be a man. This encourages them to practice what they have learned. 

After the Bible lesson, Grace and I were discussing the facility issue, then a desperate woman came in. With her fourteen year old daughter and one year old grandson. The girl was handicapped, no muscle coordination, no ability to talk, drooling, making strange noises. The baby was very cute and lively. He is born from the handicapped girl. She was raped by a boy who wanted to prove his manhood. Horrible! It was heartbreaking to see how the grandmother had to make the handicapped girl nurse her baby who  had no clue what she was doing. The girl was very thin and looked unhealthy. They had no money to buy milk. The grandmother who had been listening to the Bible lesson said that the message had touched her and she was asking advise. She struggles so much with this daughter (there are no places for those special children here), taking care of that baby and her other seven kids! There is not enough food and clothes. I asked her if she is a church member. She confirmed she is a member of the local church. This church requires tithes from all its members, otherwise they are being erased from the membership list, but this women is not being helped by the church at all. Officially, there are no funds. Yet, they are about to replace a decent church building by a bigger one. We normally encourage people to seek and to help through the local church, but this seems impossible.

I have prepared a bag with clothes for the girl and the baby, soap, sugar and a very nutritious porridge. If anyone feels inclined to ‘adopt’ these kids let me know. I will make sure they get these items every month. I need to think of something the grandmother can do to have a little income to make her less dependent. It must be something she can combine with the heavy burden she already has.

3.       Grace lives right there, surrounded by so many needs. She is such a godly woman, all she does is reaching out to her neighbors. Every literacy lesson begins with a devotion and a prayer. The headman of the village is very happy with the ministries we do. Not that he is a Christian but he hopes this will help his people to develop and achieve a better living standard. He has come to us if we can also start to teach the men. We have to pray about it.

Tuesday, however, Grace is being threatened by the main chief (every village has its own headman who reports to the big chief). It seems he is starting to worry about the effects of God’s Word being taught. What if people start to turn to the God of the Bible and turn their back to traditional religion? Please, pray for Grace. She is being threatened that they will demolish her house and that she has to move. She has called the police (after she was beaten) but they say they cannot do anything. It is common that police and justice has a hard time interfering with traditional authorities and religious practices. Grace says “But with God I can do anything. I will stay, God brought me here for a purpose.”

Only three of the many issues we are involved in. Thank you for your prayers for the work of the Holy Spirit to break the chains of sin and darkness and bring Light!!

Yours,

Mirjam