If woke up at 5:45 this morning with a very sick stomach... it was awful. I was so uncomfortable and on edge. We don't have running water, so I had to get a bucket, fill it with the water from the hose next door and poor it in the tank to flush... this also means bottled water for brushing teeth, and borrowing showers next door. In all the craziness of the morning, Paige (a wonderful staff member) said to me, "Well, this is giving us a perspective on how our kids live." It's so true. These orphans fetch water multiple times a day and for some of them, if they don't get back on time, they are beaten because of it. It's a harsh reality.
I got to camp today feeling pretty awful. One of the Zambians, Noah, spoke healing over me and told me that the words, "I am healed" need to come out of my mouth a lot today. Well, when a Zambian prays for you, you know the favor of the Lord is upon you. Even though I was uncomfortable all day and couldn't really give my all in the dances, the Lord gave me strength to finish the day. Today is the day for a lot of blessing times at camp. Blessing times are when you sit down with your evangelist and one of your kids to discuss issues in their life--counseling if you will. It's just a time to get to know them on a deeper level and to provide someone for them to talk to about things. Well we started with the 5 boys I had last year. I noticed that as they spoke, there was more underneath that they were not sharing. My consistent prayer throughout the day was, "Lord, what is the question you want me to ask? What do I need to say to this child for you to open their hearts?"
When I set with Johnathan, an overwhelming feeling of fear, anxiety, and worry came on me. Johnathan's mom passed away in 2005 when a group of satanists (including his aunt) came and took her away. When she returned, she fell ill and passed 3 days later. Johnathan's aunt has also been getting sick and they went to the church to have her prayed over. The person to prayed said that Satan was out to get his family, one by one. He also has dreams where his mother's voice is calling him to follow her--witches sometimes take familiar people in someone's life to draw them in to rituals and whatnot. So Johnathan prays every night in fear that something bad may happen to him and his family. I ask you to pray in Jesus' name that this bind that Satan has on him would be terminated.
When I set with Dango, I felt that he was heavy, carrying a lot of weight. So I asked my partner, bright, to ask him about what he is scared of, what is holding him down. Sure enough, that question was the one God wanted me to ask. (It's amazing how we can be broken, hurting, and feeling worthless but the Lord can use us in mighty mighty ways) Dango says that their are drunkards and thieves who walk around at night trying to break in to his house. He went on to say that he's scared about getting sick or hurt during the rainy season because he could be the next to die. He was just heavy with dreams about his family getting murdered. Pray that he can rest in the protection of the Holy Spirit.
Lastly, I set with a new boy, George, who has never been to camp before. The longer we set with him, the deeper his eyes looked. I noticed bags under his eyes and immediately the thought, "He has seen something terrible that either haunts him or has traumatized him" came in my head. I told my partner to ask him what he has seen that has disturbed him. George talked about watching a man die this past Saturday when the police came to his house. The man had kidnapped a small girl and murdered her to perform rituals with her body parts. He was running from the police, when he was shot. George and his friends smelled the decomposing body. This man lived about 100 feet from him.
Ahhh the weight of these children's situations rest on my shoulders. I have such a heavy heavy heart to pray for these little boys. They have seen and experienced things that they should never have to experience at the age of 10 and 12. To battle this sickness in their lives is something we can unite to do. Satan is everywhere, but the Lord is more powerful.
I ask you to pray for each of them when you can... we (you and i) may be the only ones lifting them up to the Lord. I'm listing their names so you can pray for them by name:
Joseph, Michael, George, Emmanuel, Fabian, Dango, Johnathan, Masumo, Peter, Kashala, Joseph, Reagan, Nevious, Davis, and Nulu. Thank you for your prayers.
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