Please sir, may i have some bread

Fridays are hectic in Swaziland.  Especially the final Friday of the month.  It tends to be THE payday for so many, and the day that the stores are flooded with people.  After leaving the children’s cup office today, I went to our market to pick up groceries.  A young man (perhaps 10) was in the parking lot area and said “Please sir, may I have some bread”…my heart still breaks when someone so innocent asks for anything.  I said that I was going to collect groceries, but I would bring him some bread. 

Guilt and conviction flooded me as I walked back out-groceries in tow.  Yogurt, eggs, fruit and a ginger soda for charlotte(not feeling well)…and of course-bread.  As I handed him a fresh made warm loaf of bread from the bakery at the market, his eyes darted to the sacks I had just loaded in the car…as if to say “you have so much, and have only given me a loaf of bread”.  I knelt down, hugged him, invited him to come to the church and offices, and told him to make sure and head straight home(not to walk in the dark).

As I got in the car-I found myself weeping.  Perhaps it was from an emotional week(we had another child die this week, and a number of concerns/issues crop up), perhaps I was just a bit more tired than usual, or perhaps I just feel convicted all the more about what I have and others do not.  There is much more I could have done for him…and yet I sent him away.

 

Still learning and wanting to be like Jesus, but still failing and missing the mark.

 

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Children's Cup and Mission of Mercy... a life changing and saving partnership

“Loma” (pictured above)…before and after!

Lomasontfo is a beautiful 12 year old girl full of confidence.  She is currently top of her class and reflects gratefulness for all she has.  If you were to look at Lomasontfo today you would never have realized that she almost died 3 years back.

Loma had a quick growing tumor on the left side of her jaw.  What started as a small swollen bump would soon consume the left side of her face.  A double orphan, loma lived in a mud and stick hut with older brothers and sisters who were scrambling to take care of their own children.  Many times left to fend for herself, the food served at the CarePoint became her only meal for the day.  As the tumor grew bigger her family would send her into town begging for food and money from onlookers who would take pity on her.  While the tumor was still small, Loma was discovered during a routine Children’s Cup mobile Medical Clinic at the CarePoint.  Cup medical teams looked for doctors all over Swaziland who would know how to treat this growing mass.  After months of taking Loma from doctor to doctor, it was concluded that we needed to seek medical treatment in South Africa

As Cup prepared med and visa papers to go to SA, we endured obstacle after obstacle for months.  For a time it seemed…hopeless.

As the tumor grew, we feared that she would die before we were even able to get her treatment in SA.  BUT the Lord heard our cry for help!  With the generous special medical funding from Mission of Mercy (for children with extreme medical needs) we were able to take Loma to a hospital in South Africa. 

She travled back and forth for months and when it came time to treat the tumor they ahd to remove half of her jaw and insert a metal plate to reform the jaw.  With nurse Jessie(the missionary)-she stayed at the hospital for 6 weeks with her mouth wired shut.  Frequent follow ups have yielded a positive response. 

Today, it is barely noticeable that anything is wrong.  We continue to take her yearly to South Africa with the prospect of another surgery as she grows older.

Loma was an extra mouth to feed at her home, and we watched her struggle to survive.  God put the needs of Loma on the heart of a local business lady with a husband and family.  This family from her same community saw her need and took her in as one of her own.

Lomasontfo is now receiving the love and support a child needs to thrive.  No longer looking for her next meal, and knowing the love of a family. 

She is now healthy in body, mind AND spirit.  From the start we watched an orphaned child used to being ignored and fending for her self, to a child who now knows the care and love from others.

Loma, a child who would eat everything in sight and hoard food, now knows that another meal will come again.  The Lord truly hears our cries and provides for our needs!  The Lord’s provision of His children shines bright through Loma’s life, and it is only the beginning.

Lomasontfo who was literally rescued out of hopelessness now has HOPE and a bright future!

(story by the queen of awesomeness- Nurse and Missionary “Jessie Bohannon”)