Roy Merritt and his wife Kathi oversee four orphanages at Namwianga Mission. Roy writes:
Have you ever heard of an “Orphan Co-op”?
Neither have we. Till now, anyway.
Orphans in Zambia are often an unwanted burden, so relatives and peers mock them and tease them.
Kanyameza Church of Christ took an interest in local kids whose parents are dead. To give them a pleasant, accepting time, they decided to gather them a couple times a week for group activities.
They would sing together, have Bible study. Sometimes they could even share gifts of food or clothes. They selected Cecelia Siafwiyo, in the red dress, as their chairman. (Cecelia is the housemother for Haven 1, the infant orphanage at Namwianga.)
The group declared December 4 as “Orphan Day”, so Cecelia invited them to Namwianga for a party.
Forty two kids came—and soon put our playground to the test.
This sixteen year old girl, Chrisensia, is raising her twin brothers Charles and Andrew. One of the dozens of child-led households in our community.
We ate lunch together.
After lunch the kids sang, recited poems and quoted memory verses.
This is one little girl’s poem
“AIDS AIDS
It killed my mother,
It killed my father,
I am an orphan.
No-one is left to love me.”
May we never forget "the least of these" and the compassionate people like Cecelia and the Merritts who minister to them.
No comments:
Post a Comment