My little Ugandan neighbors, Joshua (age 10), Mirika (age 8), Ashaba (age 7), and Katseme (age 4), have had a difficult life. One day the police showed up at their small house and—in front of the children—tore off their father’s shirt and shoes, beat him, bound him, and dragged him off to jail. He was released a few days later, but returned home just long enough to announce that he had found a new wife and that he was going to live with her. The children’s mother, angry that she was left alone with four children and a newborn baby to care for, fled as well, taking only the baby with her.
In a world where many women exhibit tenacious love for their children, such as the widow in 2 Kings 4:1, it’s hard to imagine how a mother could refuse to love and care for the beautiful children she’s been blessed with. But, sadly, many parents around the world show no remorse in rendering their children “abandoned far from help; they are crushed in court with no one to defend them” (Job 5:4).
Fortunately, thanks to the assistance of friends, I’ve been able to feed Joshua, Mirika, Ashaba, and Katseme two meals a day for several months now. My friends have also enabled me to buy clothes for the little ones and to pay for their primary school education. Though the challenge to find a long-term solution for these four children remains, their needs have been met to date by God’s provision (2 Kings 4:7).
I encourage you to consider how you can invest in the lives of needy children. Ask God to lead you to a specific child or organization that could use your help. Then watch the amazing ways God will pour forth His blessing to enrich others’ lives.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 2 Kings 2:1-12
More:
How is a person who neglects his or her children like the foolish woman in Proverbs 14:1?
Next:
What changes occur within the hearts and minds of needy children when we extend God’s provision? What changes transpire within our hearts and minds?
porkeebear on April 23, 2012 at 3:21 pm
Wow! This story speaks to my heart in more ways than one b/c this is exactly what happened to our family. But praise the Lord he has given me the grace and the liberating power of forgiveness. Now I pastor broken people from all walks of life, from homelessness and recovery shelters on West Oahu, Hawaii.
Thank you, so much Roxanne, for sharing this story and how you’re touching the lives of so many young keikis on Uganda. You are an inspiration to me.
Me ke aloha pumehana,
Pastor Gary & Risa Crowell
lightoftheworld.us
conmeo on April 23, 2012 at 11:34 pm
Unworldly (this world that is). Thank you for this inspiring message. Praise to God for people like you. I identified with so much here. My 93 tear old Mom has cared for 17 chldren, 48 grandchildren and 65 great grandchildren while my dad was an abusive alcoholic. Now he has cancer and she is caring for him. I took in an abandoned boy at 14 with cerebral palsy that the world had given up on and he excelled. Now after all that my wife of 35 years has left me,losing my job, home and everything worldy. My estranged wife and I visited Oahu for a wedding several years ago and hearing of what happens in west Oaju we went there to help. She said this was one straw in leaving me. All this hurts. I will pray for u. Please pray for me
tom felten on April 24, 2012 at 9:00 am
conmeo, the grace of God that your mom continues to show is reflected in your life as well. I’m reminded of so many people in the Bible who served God well and yet, some of their closest human relationships brought heartache (see Hosea for example). Yet God provided them and use them for His glory! May you continue to follow Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
mike wittmer on April 24, 2012 at 9:21 am
What a terrible reminder of how our rage against one person can blind us into hurting so many others. In America it seems that about half of all children grow up without both parents in their home. We have not yet seen the fallout from that on society.
regina franklin on April 24, 2012 at 8:10 pm
Mike—I agree. While the parentlessness in America cannot be compared exactly to that which Roxanne describes, it is a crisis of another kind. Teens today have parents in bodily form but more and more kids are emotionally, spiritually (and for some, physically) on their own. Even pop culture reflects this same idea—case in point, The Hunger Games.
Spencer Courtis on April 29, 2012 at 5:17 am
This one of the many reasons why Africa suffers – http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/03/12/the_many_wives_of_jacob_zuma