There is another enemy with a death grip here in Dondo.
It is not AIDS, malaria or TB. It is
more silent and it hides itself like a chameleon in the debris. There is no magic bullet to take it away. Quinine, the ARV meds and Rifampin won’t touch it. It is loneliness. A tomb of isolation encasing the heart until
it shatters.
We went to visit Fanita this week. She is a
widow living in extreme poverty. She
owns nothing but some worn clothes and a little bit of odds and ends of junk
she has collected along the way. She
stores it in a mud house that belongs to another. She has no means of support so
her neighbor sometimes shares her food. She had a husband that she loved once. He and the sons she bore him have since
died. She tried to find happiness with another
man but he abandoned her and their new son. As her son grew older, he left his
mother for a wife that refused to take care of Fanita. Fanita cannot benefit
anyone, so from all appearances, no one cares. She has walked a long trail of
suffering, so somewhere along this path, she sat down and gave up. A loveless soul slowly fades like a flower
without water. Like a failure-to-thrive baby, she has lost a lot of weight and
is getting weaker.
But there is One who knew her from the
foundations of the earth. And for her sake became poor so that through His
poverty she could become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9) His living water is the IV lifeline that Fanita needs.
We spent a long time with her
that day. We brought her a variety of
food both physically and spiritually. But like any medicine, it won’t help if
Fanita doesn’t take it. Please pray that Fanita will see her worth not as the
world sees, but as our Father in Heaven sees her…a special woman created in the
image of God. Pray that she will allow God to heal her broken heart and soul
and find a reason to live.
You can help Fanita too…. Last
year she and one other person were the only ones that did not find a donor for
a Green Door house. For $2,000, a cement block home will make a huge difference
in this widow’s life.
You can donate at:
I had the most surreal experience this week. This is the pathway I walk to go to the clinic and Tessa Grace. I had some filming to do for CRI this week. As I was walking this early one morning, I caught up with a young Mozambican woman who was also walking in her flip-flops...like mine. As we were walking together, all of a sudden a two-inch (in length!) baby poisonous snake slithered quickly in front of my path within inches. Before I even realize it was a snake and not a lizard, it slipped into this woman's flip-flop (between the bottom of her back foot and the inside of her flip-flop) and out again before she could even come down on it with her foot! Talk about fast moving! Praise God this fast little snake went on his merry way and didn't bite either one of us! Whew!
Today is Saturday and I like to go behind my house
and take pictures. Phil actually took this picture.
We don't have much for entertainment here
and taking this kind of break helps keep me sane.
This is another little creature that lives outside our house.
One time Simone almost got bit by a spitting cobra by
Cindy's house but it couldn't bite him because it had
one of these little frogs in its mouth.
There are so many butterflies that flutter by outside our house.
And in this tropical climate, many things grow
without anyone taking care of them.
There is a black and blue butterfly that is as large
as a yellow swallowtail and one day I hope to get
its picture. For now I have to be satisfied with all
the yellow ones I keep shooting.
It is not that easy to get a picture of a dragonfly
because they take off so fast.
These pink flowers are very common here.
Love the cheery yellow flowers.
This is the footpath behind the
house we live in in Eco Cimento.
It is where I get pictures of God's creatures.
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