“I want to go where you are,” she said and I knew she meant she wanted to go home with me. My first thought was, This is a result of the children calling me Jaaja (grandmother). They now think I am their grandmother and I’m here to take care of them.
I had spent the entire week at the ‘Children's Healing Camp’ with my small group of children, 6 in all, and she was not one of them. In fact I never met her before and yet she had the courage to come up to me, a stranger, and ask me to take her home.
I wondered how bad her life was that she was willing to place her hope and trust in a total stranger rather than her own family.
Reluctantly I had to explain to her that I could not take her home (though I wanted to). She looked downcast as she turned to walk away.
There’s always one more child to help; one more that needs Jaaja’s love. I keep reaching for them with my heart first and then what ever resources I can find. It doesn’t matter to me how many come because my God has an endless supply and He wants to meet their needs. But we are His hands and arms extended in love to these kids.
They need grandmothers, grandfathers, moms, dads, people who will love them and care for them so they can be a child. Too many of them have to do grown up things like earn money to care for their younger siblings. Too many of them have grown up worries like finding the money to pay school fees. Too many of them have seen tragedy throughout their life as parents and other relatives die to AIDS or other diseases.
The Healing Camp was a great blessing to these kids giving them a chance to talk about their feelings, their hurts, their grief, and helping them find comfort in God’s Word and the healing touch of Jesus Christ through our arms extended.
Thank you for your help in meeting the needs of these precious children. I have said it before and I say it again – DON’T STOP.
If you would like to learn more about the Friends of TOUCH ministry or would like to sponsor one of these great kids, log on to http://www.friendsoftouch.org and click ‘Sponsor a Child’ or click ‘Giving’ for other opportunities to help.
Jaaja Denise
