Providence

We arrived at the HIV orphanage in Ethiopia. It is a Catholic orphanage of about 400children who are infected with HIV...some of them having full blown AIDS. They are the outcasts of Africa. There is such a stigma with HIV that the very parents who probably gave the children HIV are the ones that drop them off at the orphanage, not wanting to care for them or deal with the stigma. It is a hopeless place in many ways.

It seemed that we weren't needed at the orphanage. We wondered if they even knew we were coming. They were kind of scrambling trying to find someone to walk us around and give us a tour. We weren't there for a tour, but we took one anyone. We went to one room and there were about 100 children in that room and they sang to us. It was so very sweet, but my heart was broken...smashed into a hundred pieces. I turned my back and looked out a window and just wept. I questioned God, "Why are these children having to endure this? This just isn't fair." In my simple human mind, it seems that God is requiring too much of them. Why do the sins of the father get passed to innocent children? God didn't really give me a huge revelation, just that I needed to trust Him and that He saw the pain. These children will probably meet a precious Savior sooner rather than later and then they'll be singing and dancing on streets of gold. God will wipe away every tear and there will no longer be sorrow or sickness.

Here are some of them waiting outside the orphanage gate


We played with the kids for awhile and then the nuns asked if some of our men could help. When we had pulled up to the orphanage we noticed a long line of people waiting outside the orphanage. We asked about it and it was Christmas Eve in Ethiopia so they were giving families in the community rice, barley and flour. Many of these women had young children and the bags of food were incredibly heavy. So the men and a few strong women helped carry the bags up a very steep hill. Once to the gate, they had to turn over the heavy bags to these women. They told us that some of these women had an hour walk home with this food. One of the guys said that as he would place the bag on the women's back, they would groan in pain because of the weight of the bag. But these women were willing to endure this pain, because of their love for their family.

Our guys made 12-15 trips up that steep hill and they were dripping in sweat by the time they were done. I was so proud of our team and their willingness to do whatever was necessary. This wasn't on the agenda for the day, but God had other plans. We felt like we weren't needed, but God knew what the day would hold. One of the team members asked one of the nuns, "What would you have done if we hadn't been here?" She said, "I don't know, but it was Providence."

I love that once again God showed me that His ways aren't My ways and that I just need to trust Him.

This is a picture of them outside the gate with the big bags of food.