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!