Gratitude in the midst of Heartache

June 21, 2011

This week there is a medical team visiting the Living Hope facility to provide care for the women and today I saw women whose conditions broke my heart. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to hear their personal stories but hopefully they will be healed soon. The first woman I saw had deep scars on either side of her mouth going down her chin and then she had a massive growth the size of a cantaloupe protruding out of her chin. I do not know if she was having reconstructive surgery that resulted in her current condition or what exactly had happened but when I saw her I felt a deep ache inside my heart; I cannot imagine what caused her to be in such a state. The second woman I saw had a wig on which she had pulled down so far over her forehead I could barely see her eyes. But as the bangs in the wig split apart I saw a massive scar that spanned her entire forehead.  Finally, the third woman I saw had no lips and the end of her nose was missing.  Her condition is most likely the result of the LRA which would mutilate women in such a way just to be spiteful and I wonder if the other women’s conditions also resulted from such violent, malicious acts.  Though I know we are not to be vain, but I cannot imagine having my face cut apart to the point that people shutter at me when I walk by. My heart aches for these women; but at the same time praise the Lord that their condition is not only being acknowledged but work is being done to restore their dignity by repairing the damage that has been done to them physically, emotionally, and spiritually, as well as providing employment for them in the interim or long term. God is good and I am thankful for His redemption.

Another recent event involved the other volunteers here, Christiana and Paige. Christiana works at the babies’ home and Paige splits her time between working with the social workers of Watoto and the babies’ home. The Watoto social workers work partly in the community identifying and confirming children who can be brought into Watoto and also work within the Watoto villages to ensure the children and mothers are living well together.  Yesterday morning Paige was called by one of the social workers to go pick up a baby from the hospital that had just been born but they needed to hurry because babies keep dying in the hospitals before the social workers can get to them (this has also broken my heart, may all those babies be in God’s loving hands now). They did reach this baby in time, praise the Lord! They were informed that the mother had some sort of mental illness and kept changing her mind whether she wanted the baby or wanted nothing to do with her. If you would please pray that God would give the mother peace in not having her child as the hospital deemed she could not care for the baby, and also that God would protect this baby girl from any sort of the mental illness her mother suffered from. And also praise Him for rescuing her!

Also, I just wanted to thank the Lord for bringing Christiana and Paige here during the same time that I am here; they have already taught me so much and have provided loving support as we all encounter these difficult situations. The Lord is so faithful in providing for our every need including connections with others and I am deeply grateful.