Man. I am beat. I just feel so worn out and exhausted tonight. Today was the first day of my week with a group. My boys from Mapode (a very very corrupt school in one of the compounds) came back this week. But before I get to that, I must tell you about this past weekend.
I signed up to go on a Fathers Heart trip (i.e. go visit my sponsored kid at his house, bring him food and lots of goodies) for one Saturday while I'm here. well Katy, Patty (her mom), Ricky (a friend) and I went out into the communities after buying lots and lots of food. I was so excited to see my sponsored boy Ackson and his family. We had two areas to visit, and they were a little bit away from each other so with 5 food drops, we knew it would be a long day. We got on the bus later than usual and realized that we didn't have enough fuel to drive that day. Our bus driver apologized, but Katy and I were still pretty upset that the bus wasn't prepared before the trip began. Getting fuel pushed us past 11:30...and we still had 5 houses to visit. By the way, one food drop can take about 45 min-an hour depending on the location and how easy it is to get the bus in the narrow allies. Ibex was the first stop and we had 3 drops to make. It was such a blessing to see these families when Katy, Patty, and Ricky gave their food and prayed for them was incredible... you could see them grasping and taking hold of the Lord's blessing. We dropped about a months worth of food which helps them tremendously.
So after Ibex, we headed to Kamanga, where Ackson lives. Katy's other sponsored kid also lives in Kamanga and was in my group last year, so I was pretty excited to see his home as well. Edward and Ackson were both in my group last year and they both attended camp last week with Jenny, so although I had already seen them at camp a few times, seeing them again was still a huge excitement! Well we showed up at the CRC (Community Resource Center), and the children were supposed to meet us there to take us to their homes. Edward was the only one present, but I wasn't completely surprised because Ackson has disabled legs which hinders him from walking much at all. (I figured we would just meet him at his house). So we load the bus and head out to what I though was Edward's house. The discipleship leader led us to Ackson's house and asked for him... Unfortunately, Ackson wasn't there either. When I heard this news, immediately my heart sank. I was completely discouraged. We had driven all over the compounds and I couldn't wait to see the smile on his face when he received the Lord's blessing... but he wasn't there to receive it.
Since we were in the area, I had the discipleship leader (DL) take me to Raphael's house (another one of my kids from last year that didn't get to attend camp last week--so I hadn't seen him). I was so excited to drop in unexpectedly and see him and his family. We walked about 10 more minutes and stopped at his house... my heart was pounding and I was looking around for him. Well, he wasn't there. He was too far away watching a soccer game so it was impossible to catch him. Again, I was completely discouraged--I started crying while we walked back to the bus because we were on strike two with seeing my kids. The DL wanted to go back to the CRC to see if we could catch Ackson and his mom there. Strike 3, 10 minutes later, they weren't there. Well our last hope was to just drop the DL off at the house so we could reschedule for a different time. On our way, the DL got word that Ackson and his mom were on the road trying to get to the CRC. My heart started beating a little bit more... as we drove, I saw him on the side waiting for a bus. Before the bus stopped, I jumped off and ran to him. It was beautiful. I just hugged him and praised the Lord for allowing me to see him. We picked them up and headed back to their house.
We dropped off the food and I gave Ackson his gifts--backpack, tennis balls, bouncy balls, pencils, sunshades, sweatshirt, etc. He was sooo happy. It was amazing. The Lord said to me, "See, why do you worry and bring yourself down. I can do anything. trust me." I was also humbled because I had been so selfish that day--wanted to see my kids faces when the Lord should receive all the glory. It was a beautiful image in my head that I humbly received.
I said bye to the family and turned the corner only to find Raphael walking home from the soccer game. Incredible. I can't even explain my feelings at this moment. It was at the perfect moment that we finished giving gifts. Ohhhh how the Lord blessed me tremendously. Not only did I get one, but I got to see both. I'm blessed for his unexpected miracles in my life!
Comments
Post a Comment