Silenced: When tragedy hits

It’s so hard to post blogs right now from Swaziland, the internet is
so poor; to load a picture takes anywhere from 15 mintues to 2 hours,
really… I sent this email to Seth Barnes yesterday and the blog below
was his response:

I
spent the day in Nsoko – it was very emotional as the fence is up
around the Children’s Village we are building, the community center is
being constructed and the people are gathering… I stood in awe of our
God once again – He cares for the high-level executive and He cares for
the children of the dirt – He is a mighty God!

Yesterday
as I sat at my desk, one text after the other came on my cell phone
from Pastor Gift; he is working with our World Race team in Nsoko going
door-to-door, visiting the families of this forgotten place… “Tracy and I just found a mother about to die from aids, she will leave six double orphans” “3
year old girl lost parents, she has tested hiv positive – her private
part is secreting puss which implies sexual abuse, if possible please
come now with clothes, food”

The last one he sent put me over the edge – “we just found a 4 week old baby boy who’s mother is dead of aids, we had to take the baby – he has no one and is almost dead.” Today down in Nsoko I held this little boy – half the size of my arm,
grasping for breath – I will send pictures and the rest of the story
soon – I am a silenced man.

---

We have a team in Swaziland, that nation in Africa where nearly half the adult population has the AIDS virus. I received this email from Gary Black in Swaziland today and it wrecked me:

“The
team found a four week-old laying on its dead mother yesterday, they
kept it – we are getting it to the abandoned baby hospital Friday.”

What do we do with this? That’s my son’s team down there. I don’t
know about you, but I’m outraged by a world that produces situations
like this. And while that may seem like a world away to many, for my
son, it’s as immediate as it is heart-wrenching.

The only thing that appalls me more is that so many of us Americans
who can do something about this are more interested in stuff that will
only ultimately burn up in the big fire. God help us. God, help us to
wake up. Help us to see how much you love the widow and the orphan. God
help us to break as you are broken up over this four week-old.

God,
help me to lose this tortoise shell religion that sheds these kinds of
tragic situations like water. Forgive me God for not praying more.
Forgive me for not emptying my bank account for your little ones. God,
we have lost true religion. We have sought finer sanctuaries and better
parking lots.

We have tried to fill our church pews with
seekers, but we have not sought your children dying on their mother’s
chests. We need to see a way out of this mess that we’ve got ourselves
in. God, help us in this 21st century mindset that we’ve acquired. I
don’t even know what else to pray.