The Innocent Ones

The Children of Africa
There is something so beautiful to me about the children of Africa...actually any child no matter where they are from. The children in Africa LOVE having their photograph taken. Then they LOVE to see their photo on the screen. They gather round you after you have taken the picture and giggle in delight as they see their image. And then the photographer gets so much delight as they interact with the kids. The kids are the innocent ones. Sometimes you see a young child and they stare at you in fascination - they touch your skin and giggle as it goes white and then red as the blood flushes in. They stroke your arms to feel the texture of your skin. They yell out "mzungu, mzungu" (white person, white person) and just call you over to take their photo. They are a blast.
Uganda
We arrived first in Uganda on our way to the Democratic Republic of Congo. There we visited African Hearts - a NGO that has a home for former street kids. It is a beautiful ministry and the boys in this home are so loving, gentle and polite. They learn to play in band to raise support for their schooling and needs. There are many boys there - over 50. And Lutaaya the leader is himself a former street child. His heart is so for these street kids that he set up this ministry to get the boys off the streets and raise them in a loving environment. So since we were there we visited African Hearts. There I med Sowedi. I don't know how old he is but I do know he is a cute kid. He seemed to bond with me very quickly and hung onto me as we walked around, visited their home, heard them play in the band, sing songs and even act out a play regarding AIDS for us. As we walked around he slipped his hand into mine and clung to me at times. When it came time to leave he cleared the way for me as we headed to the van. He would tell the people and other boys to move aside for "his mother". Then he looked at me and told me I was his mother. It was so hard to leave him after that but I did tell him he was my son and I would always remember him. He didn't want to let go of me and we hugged each other for ages. That's Sowedi leaning against a wall - cute kid isn't he?
Street Kids
Kampala, Uganda is said to have over a million street kids. That's a hard hitting statistic and hard to believe but that is what we were told. And when you walk the streets and you see all the kids then it becomes more than just a statistic. On our last Saturday in Uganda after we had returned from Congo on our way back to the US we went in search of the true street kids. Our intent: we wanted to feed the kids. We had seen the kids - they were as young as 2. I can't tell you how many 3, 4, 5, 6 year olds we saw sitting on the streets, begging and crying. Yes, its true that some of these kids have homes and their parents send them out to beg. Yes, it is true that some of these kids are parts of gangs were they are made to beg and yes some of these kids could go home. But many kids had come from Northern Uganda where the rebel fighting had driven them to Kampala. Others were simply orphans, rejected or on the streets for some other reason. But many, many of these kids were hungry - you can tell. So our team bought all the bread we could - we bought all the bread two stores had and we got peanut butter (high nutritional content) and made peanut butter sandwiches. And then we walked among sewer ditches, along city streets and we found the kids. They snatched up the sandwiches and sat down on the streets and started to eat. We talked to them and we loved them. I think this morning was one of the most heart wrenching mornings of our trip. I just wanted to bring all these kids home with me. It is so hard to see a 3 or 4 year old on the street, crying, hungry and sitting there alone and just walk away. Yes, we gave them food but we walked away. And we are left to wonder what has happened to this child, that child today? It makes me glad that God has called people like my friend Abby - a young lady in her twenties - who feels called to work among the street kids in Kampala and who has boldly accepted that call. There are others like her and the leader of African Hearts Lutaaya who was once a street kid now wants to help these kids in that position. They are heroes in this world who bravely accept the call of God and minister to the least.
Kids in Congo
These kids are the innocent ones too and they are just so cute. Here are some photos of these beautiful children:

Just content to play with a bit of paper (left). On the right below - kids playing with balloons.









Some kids have the most amazing smiles!

The smiles are indeed infectious!

This photo shows Jeff playing with the kids. They loved it. All he did was lift them up into the air and they just laughed and laughed and smiled with joy.






Above is one of my favorite photos taken at a church in Beni - the church known as the "church of the rubbish" because it is the church where the people who attend are the drug addicts, the prostitutes, the homeless, the unemployed, those people considered the least of the people in the city. It's my favorite church to visit - it's also one of the churches where we are made to feel the most welcomed. During the service, different groups come up to sing songs of welcome - the youth, the ladies, the choir, etc. The youth leader - a very animated character called Moses speaks English and has words of encouragement for us and then leads the youth in song. This year after our visit there we were invited to the house by the side of the church where upon they brought out plates of food - chicken, vegetables, a local pastry, peanuts, and sodas. What a treat. We shared stories, encouraged each other, prayed, laughed and joked and just had fun visiting. The pastor of this church is a man called Peter Amani - this is his prayer request "pray that I will love my people the way Jesus loves them". He is an amazing man - his love for the least of the least is very evident - and they love him.

Caught yawning in church! No surprise - the services last 3-4 hours!

A beautiful country...

The Democratic Republic of Congo
Congo - the DRC - is a very beautiful country. It's raw - in the sense that you don't see tarmac roads, or many houses with electricity, or heated water. But there is a beauty to the land. It is very green. The rain forest is evident and everywhere you look all you see is greenery - at least in the countryside. The above photo shows the view from the cockpit of the plane and the dirt airstrip in Beni in the distance. But there are some wonderful views of beautiful green grass, lots of trees and wild plants. The photo on the right is an evening shot just outside the university building. Here are a few more photos of the views around the university in Beni. These are some of the houses from the nearby village. As you can see it is just so very green. It is pretty amazing and the colors change at different times during the day.




Smiling Faces
Everyday I would see women walking in the fields on their way to work in the shambas - as the fields are called in Swahili. Whenever they saw that I was taking photos they would smile at me - like the two ladies in these two photos. When you see the women it is hard to imagine that such beautiful women with wonderful smiles on their faces face danger every day. Yet most of the stories we heard from the rape survivors all had a common theme. They were raped on the way to or from their fields or while they were working in the fields. These women have no choice. This is their work - they grow their food and this is how they make a living and support their families. It's hard to imagine what it must be like going to work every day wondering if you will make it safely through the day and get home safely at the end of the day. It is sometimes hard to even conceive of the danger when you are there because you look out into the distance, see the greenery, the women going to work or returning and it all seems so peaceful. Yet towards the end of our stay in Beni we heard of a woman who had been raped and murdered not too far from where we were staying. The locals even gave some of our team members photos of this poor murdered woman. I think it helped them - it gave them a voice and a hope we would tell the world their story and what was going on. So all is not as peaceful as it might seem.
One Voice, One People, One Stand
Our last conference was for rape survivors. At that conference we heard story after story and it was so hard to hear them all. The stories are horrific. The pain is etched into the faces of the women, their eyes are dead and numbed and their bodies tell the stories of their suffering. And many of the women had babies, or were pregnant or had young children - many were the result of their rapes. We wept as we heard the stories, we prayed with the women, we prayed for Christ to heal the pain and take away the shame, we prayed that God would help the women see how precious and beautiful they were and that they would understand their value and that their dignity was not destroyed but that God would reveal to them their original design and help them be the women He wants them to be. At this conference rape survivors became believers, many stepped forward to take the first steps in healing. At the end of the conference, we - I and Steve gave what I considered the most difficult teaching and talk of the whole trip - a talk on forgiveness and what it means to forgive our abusers. We explained the true meaning of forgiveness that Scripture talks about and the need to establish safe boundaries and not offer relational forgiveness unless their is true repentance and a demonstration of change and implementation of changes so that the survivor is not abused all over again. It was a tough talk but the Spirit spoke powerfully. At the end we decided it was late and the conference should end. But the interpreter turned to me and said we can't stop. the women want to come forward and take steps towards forgiving their abusers. I was amazed and speechless. Woman after woman came forward. We prayed for each and every one of them. In my western naivety I was so concerned that we didn't have enough interpretors to translate our prayers. I wanted the women to know what we were praying! The interpretor said to me - it doesn't matter - God knows what you are saying! Silly me...Does Scripture not say that the Spirit intercedes for us and in the same we we were interceding for the women - they did not need to know our words - they just needed us to pray for them, to help them take that first step towards being able to forgive their abusers. What a humbling experience.

At the end of the conference after all this happened the women mentioned about how we needed to be their voice and to tell the world. We told them that they need to stand together, be one voice and tell their country and the world that enough is enough. Sexual violence must stop. We told them we would join them. This was a bold move for these survivors. They don't feel like they have a voice. Well, look at these next photos. It's all the women and us (the women on the team) standing together raising our hand - one finger pointing making the statement - we are one voice and we stand against sexual violence. The photo above is a close up and the one below on the right is the whole group. I have to say this was a bold moment for these women, a happy occasion and one where we all felt we were standing together as sisters in Christ and ready to fight for the cause. I will tell their stories here and tell people of how boldly these women seek to heal, recover and move on. Many of these women have experienced not only sexual violence but abandonment and have lost a lot. Here at this conference not one woman left without having been connected with a woman in her community who was connected with a NGO or organization that could help them. Do you know that Beni and the surrounding cities have more organizations than the city of Phoenix - they just have very limited resources and training but they certainly have a heart to help the wounded and broken and change their country.

The people of Congo have much to teach us....

Free to Live

Some thoughts...
I continue to think of the people in the DRC everyday. I pray for them, go over their stories in my head and simply wish I was there with them. Life operates very differently here in the USA. Life is so convenient - I can have a hot bath any time I want without having to think I have to heat up the water. In Congo if you want hot water you have to make arrangements to have a small bucket of water heated up on a log fire in the yard. So you get used to cold water. You can't watch TV any time you want because their is no electricity. The houses use generators in the evenings for a few hours. But these are just personal inconveniences which are quickly put to one side when you experience the hospitality and love of the people in Congo. I love being with the people - they welcome me and others with open arms, they are gracious hosts and seek to fill our every need. The Congolese understand community in a way we Americans don't. We seek to go into our rooms at night and be by ourselves. They seek to come over, hang out and spend time with you. It isn't even a question of time, how long they are with you but that they spend the time with you and each other. Hence church services last 3-4 hours. It always strikes me when I come back to America and go to church - we get so stressed out that our services will go a few minutes over the hour. Yes, God gets upset if our services are longer than an hour - we can only sing our few songs lest we upset the people in the congregation and it would just simply be awful if we had to listen to the preacher for an hour instead of our prescribed 30 minutes. Yes, I know - I'm being cynical but somehow I think we Americans have got it wrong. We have lost the true meaning of community and then of worship. It's so hard to come back to the US and see this and try so hard not to be judgmental about it.

The photo on the left is just an example of hanging out at the house after a day of ministering. Jeff is playing and singing along with some of our local friends. We would go outside, just enjoy the company, sing the songs and hang. The Congolese love music and love to spend time with you.

Free to Live Conference

This was the conference for prostituted women. It was an amazing conference. Some 77 prostituted women attended. The first day it took some time for them to show up. Turns out they were afraid they were being rounded up for the police. One of the students at the university was connected to the police somehow - either by working for them or had a relative working for them. So the women thought they were being rounded up, taken to the police station and/or tested for HIV. They were pleasantly surprised to find out that this was not true. However, the local brothel owner (lady in orange dress in photo) had put five of her girls into hiding. These poor girls were in hiding all day but at least at the end of the day the owner was able to take them some food and get them out of hiding.

This photo of myself with the brothel owner and some of her girls was taken on the first day of the conference. The conference was designed not only to provide spiritual guidance and support but also to help these women come out of prostitution by helping them learn how to get new skills and develop their own businesses. Some 56 women signed up for professional skill training (sewing, soap making, basket making, etc) and for micro-business set up. As a team we were able to provide sponsorship money and seed money for micro-business set up for all these women. It was done through Dorcus - a woman who works with Scripture Union and who has a ministry that helps train women in new skills and how to support themselves. Since our return to the US these women have been meeting three times a week for discipleship and skills training. During the conference over 50 of the prostituted women became Christians. So the spiritual discipleship component is just as important as the skills training.

For me, this conference was one of the highlights of the trip. The crowning part was when one of the former prostitutes - a teenage girl who had been a muslim who became a Christian at this conference - cam up to me, showed me a picture she had drawn and on which she had written "I love Christine". I have to admit, I just teared up, I was so touched. And that's what it was like. One woman after another, coming up to us - telling us they loved us. We were able to create a safe place for these women and they trusted us. They know they can come back to UCBC and be safe in the future. UCBC is a great place - it's a place that not only teaches students but is also a place where the broken and wounded can come and be safe. God is so good to have given David and Kassie Kasali the vision of Congo Initiative and to set up this place in Beni. The photo on the left is the UCBC building. There is still a lot of work to be done there. The floors are still dirt floors for the most part and some rooms have not been finished. But it is a welcoming place - a place where much healing happens and which embraces the broken and wounded. It is a refuge in the midst of a struggling land and a place of hope. To find out more about Congo Initiative go to their website www.congoinitiative.org

The patients of CEPIMA

CEPIMA - that wonderful organization that works with so many patients. On our visit to the Beni clinic we were able to meet each patient who was receiving treatment at the clinic as in patients. We went to each room, met each patient, heard their story and we were able to spend some time with them and pray with each one. Here are some of the patients and their stories:

The boy called Prince

Prince really is his name. He is 12 years old and an in patient at the CEPIMA clinic in Beni, DRC. He is a gorgeous handsome looking boy but clearly deeply traumatized. Turns out he is here at CEPIMA because of his father. His father is a strict man and apparently was so strict and even brutal with his young boy that Prince was depressed and mentally affected by the treatment he received from his father. He had to be admitted because of the depth of his trauma. We all fell in love with Prince. Our hearts just felt so much for him. We were able to spend some time with him and a couple of our team members - Jeff and Dan prayed for him. It is no accident that his name is Prince. Prince truly is a "prince" and with the help of the people at CEPIMA, our prayers and God's intervention he will know that he is a "prince" in God's eyes, deeply loved and treasured and that even though his earthly father is brutal and strict, he is loved and valued.

The abandoned and rejected women

Here I am sitting in one of the patient's room. It had three beds in it and there were two women in the room. You can see both on the bed with me in the middle. After a while, to be truthful, the stories started to merge into one. You just hear story after story of women being rejected by their husbands or by their families for one reason or another. But typically, the bottom line ends up being the fact that these women have been sexually abused. Once a husband or family learns that their wife or daughter has been raped that's it. They reject them and throw them out of the home. The women have no where to go and literally have lost everything - their homes, their clothes, their children, their families. Some of these women can't take it, get depressed and literally become mentally ill. In such a society these women are abandoned and alone. No wonder they feel so desolate and hurt; they suffer enormously. CEPIMA is a great organization. They give these women a place to stay, a place to heal and a place to recover. They even mediate with their families to bring about reconciliation and reacceptance into the home. These two women had similar stories - abandoned after abuse. CEPIMA was not just treating these women for their psychological illnesses but also was helping them spiritually, with their children and with their families. It was my privilage to be with them, share some time with them and pray for them.

A girl called Naama
Naama is 15 years old. When she was 12 years old she was raped by five militia. After that experience she became obsessed with having sex with every man she met - she probably thought that was the only way they would have anything to do with her after her rape. In the past three years she has been abused horrifically. She still had wounds on her body from the abuse she experienced - and she was virtually catatonic. She would sit with her hands in front of her, shaking, moving back and forth and quite unable to keep track of what was going on. Last year we met another Naama at CEPIMA in the city of Butembo. She too was catatonic because she too had been raped. This year however, we got to see Naama #1 who had traveled 100 miles and trekked through 5 miles of jungle just to see us and let us know that she, after 5 months at CEPIMA, had recovered, accepted Christ, now loved her daughter who was born of the rape, and was now counseling other women who had been raped and had children and had rejected the children. Naama #1 gave us hope because was a living example of how God heals. So when we saw Naama #2, the 15 year old girl who was severely traumatized, we knew God could bring about such healing in her life too. I think God allowed us to meet Naama #1 before we saw Naama #2 - otherwise it would have been too much for us to take in and handle. I know Naama #2 will recover. I know God will heal her - He will use the people at CEPIMA and God will also speak tenderly and gently to Naama and give her strength, hope and courage to face life and the future. We spent time with Naama. We pray for her and we held her. Naama did connect with us. As Celestia (one of the team members) prayed for her, Naama held on to her and tracked what was been said in prayer. When the prayer ended Naama responded by saying "amen". Then Celestia gave her a little quilt. The photo on the right shows her grandmother wrapping the quilt around Naama. When Celestia gave Naama the quilt Naama broke out into a smile. So we know that she can be reached. There is still part of Naama that is connected. When we return next year, we are praying that this young Naama will be like the first Naama - healed and recovered and in a place where she is once again experiencing the joy of life and of being a young teenage girl. She is a beautiful young girl and my prayer is that she will know how precious and special she is a young lady created in the image of God and that there are people who love her because of who she is - a young lady called Naama. I am so thankful for her grandmother who brought her to CEPIMA and who is there by her side to help her in her healing and recovery from such horrible abuse. By the way, Naama means grace in swahili.

The privilege of being there with the patients

This photo says it all. One of the patients at CEPIMA is literally holding and clinging on to the hand of Jeff as Jeff prays for him and the other patients in this room. Jeff is standing and on his other side, a patient is also holding on to his right arm. This says it all. Being there with the patients, just spending time with them and being able to pray for them, that is what the visit was all about. We were so blessed being there and the patients seemed to love having us there. I pray that we were able to minister to them - it certainly was awesome just being able to spend time with them.

The wonderful thing about this clinic which might seem so counter inituative to us was the fact among the patients we found abuse survivors, rejected and abandoned women and children, and former rebels and soldiers. It seemed that it didn't matter that there were women who had been abused by soldiers and rebels and that the rebels were there among them as patients. The clinic workers had set up appropriate boundries but they also talked about how they worked with the patients to help them understand that they all were survivors of abuse, they were all sick and that what God sees is broken and wounded people who need help. That was how the patients viewed each other. In that there was a forgiveness for past deeds and an acceptance of the broken person trying to heal and recover. That in itself was amazing to see. It speaks of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus, really the heart of the Gospel. It was a lesson for me too. And you know what...it works. These patients do heal and recover together, they get to be in community together and they get to appreciate each other. I'm sure there are problems from time to time but what I saw were dedicated workers who loved their patients, saw and knew the hope in healing and the peace that Jesus brings and who were bold and courageous in pushing forth in their mission no matter what. I love CEPIMA, the workers and what they are all about. I am glad to know them.