A lady we know goes out regularly to offer practical help to this group of blind, orphaned children in Malawi. At the moment the situation out there is heart-breakingly difficult and they have been going for such long periods of time without food, eventually eating things like grass, just to stay alive. When they were given bags of rice by this lady, they ran around with joy exclaiming that "Jesus lives" and hears their prayers. That in itself shows how beautiful their hearts are and challenges me as to how easily i get caught up in stupid worries and how much i forget to be thankful for all the good things God provides me with.
But the thing which strikes me even more - that i literally cannot begin to comprehend, and makes me cry when i even consider it, is this:
They have such a beautiful and passionate love of God, despite their poverty and their blindness - and they pray for others with such faith and such love. Today, my Dad told me about a lady in England, who was given 2 days to live. She had a big lump on her spine and couldn't even move, but was just in hospital and about to die. There was literally no hope for her. And these children in Malawai, prayed for her. These poor, blind, orphan children, poured out their hearts to God when they heard about her, and begged Him to heal her. And the next day, she was well. She was sitting up in bed and eating and recovered. The Doctors say it is a miracle. She was going to die, but now she will live. The lady we know told us that as these children prayed, she saw how earnest they were, and how beautiful their faith was. And i reckon that God heard their prayers. I praise God for that. And i praise Him for these children.
But here is the other thing. These same children prayed for me.
During the months just prior to when i believed it was right to come off my medication, i was pretty ill. Our friend was in Malawi at the time and i don't know why she did this, but she told the people there about me.. and they had a meeting just to pray for me. I knew nothing about this at the time. But it was around then that i felt certain God was healing me and from then on that i got so much better. I'm not saying that it was simply down to these children... i know so many people prayed for me over the years and around that time.... i'm sure God heard everybodies prayers and had His own timing for things.... but maybe, i don't know, just maybe, God saw something so self-less and beautiful in the faith of these poor suffering children, that He answered their simple cries.
What blows my mind more than anything, is just the fact that these children, who were genuinely suffering... who wear only rags, and have virtually no food, who are orphans and are blind, would pray for someone like me.... a self-absorbed foolish girl from a rich Country. It makes no sense. No sense at all. I can't get over it. It means so much to me. And, if i'm honest, i don't understand it either. I don't understand why God would help me, and yet these children are still blind. And apparently, when they heard how much better i was, they all danced around with joy.
Honestly, i am astounded by the hearts and faith of these children. I am thankful for them. And i honestly feel that in all their poverty and all their suffering, they show me more of who Jesus is than most Western Christians i've met.
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