Separation

He stood alone at the edge of a sandy road searching the eyes of every woman that passed by. His continuous low sobbing only paused long enough for a gasp of sustaining air. I moved forward to comfort this two-year-old with a malnourished frame and swollen belly. I surmised he was lost until an elderly woman stepped forward and quickly apologized for his behavior. She ushered him away from the road as I heard her call back to me that his mother had just died two days prior.

Separation. A word beyond a two-year-old's vocabulary but not beyond his pain. It is a giant word that penetrates the heart of God so deeply that He created a plan to slay it before the world began. Activista Adelina explained God's plan in her bairro this week of the birth of Jesus in the little town of Bethlehem. It had only been a month since she buried her husband. In the Bible study was a woman named Maria who had lost her husband a week before Adelina. She had come in spite of just giving birth to her dead husband's baby. Though the sting of death is for a season, their hope is eternal.

Tomorrow we pack once again to return to the States. Separation. A constant companion of the migrant missionary. We are praying we can return to Dondo in a few short months. There is a world of opportunity to share the hope of God's plan....and this is the season.