The doctor’s office was simple and bleak.  The walls were empty except for the chipping beige paint on stone walls connected to a stone floor.  There were two worn cots with a simple white sheet on each one and a small wooden desk with a chair on either side.

This was the room where a young Somali mother brought her dying, infant son and the room where I came face to face with a malnourished baby. 

This wasn’t an infomercial and there were no famous actors and film crews pleading to me through the television. Less than a foot away from me was a baby boy – barely breathing with sunken cheeks and a bloated stomach.  His arms and legs were like toothpicks and he laid in his mother’s arms lifeless.  Except for a faint irregular breathe that sucked my own breathe out of me.

The mother was young and guarded.  The volunteer doctors that I was there with tried to get information from her but her answers were vague.  Who knows why … Muslim girl in an Islamic neighborhood in a Christian clinic; young and scared; threatened by someone…. We didn’t know.  We just needed answers if this baby had any chance of living.  And even with an answer it didn’t seem likely that this young boy had a chance at a future.

The baby hadn’t eaten in weeks.  Why?  We don’t know.  But the baby was starving to death.  I literally thought he would die in her lap and several times we all paused waiting for another breathe to escape from his tiny mouth. I’ve never felt so helpless.  The doctors felt the same way.  They didn’t have the resources at the clinic to help the boy and there was no reason to believe the woman would do what was needed now if she wasn’t willing or able to do so before.  The nearest hospital would not see her because she had no money and Somalians are hated by most Kenyans.  The doctors debated what to do knowing the baby had only minutes.  They reached into their own pockets and gathered enough money to send the mother and baby to a nearby mission hospital.  They went out and secured the ride themselves to make sure she went.  They weren’t hopeful that the baby would even make it to the hospital.  But they had to try.  They had to do something.

I don’t know what happened to that baby boy.  I think about him a lot but not as much as I should.  I think about him a lot but I haven’t changed anything about my life as a result of that chance meeting with death.

The past few weeks I’ve seen so many images of starving Somali children and I see him in those malnourished faces and in those skeleton bodies.  The situation is different but the sentence is the same – death by starvation.  Mothers and Fathers who can do nothing but try to ease the pain that their children are experiencing after days without anything to eat.

Tonight I saw my nephew’s face in one of those boys. Sadly, I’m sure this young boy is older than my nearly 7 year old nephew yet due to the famine, he looks years younger.  I can’t see the mother’s face but I try to imagine what she must be feeling and I can’t.  I can’t imagine what it would feel like to not be able to meet the very basic needs of my beloved son or nephew.  I can’t imagine what pain I would feel watching him slowly starve to death, crying out in pain until he has no energy to even cry anymore.

God reminds me that this is my nephew.  He and the thousands of others starving are my family.  Our family.

“If you can’t feed a hundred people, than feed just one.”  -Mother Theresa

Nothing is impossible with God.  Nothing.  We know God can feed the multitudes. God has done it before.  God needs the faith of a few who offer up their lunch as part of the miracle. Will you join me in giving your lunch?

1. Fast one meal this week and give the money to one of the relief agencies listed below or research your own.
2. Don’t eat out this week and give the money you save to famine relief.
3. Sell things you don’t need and give the money to feed starving children.
4. Don’t buy something that was an extra in your life and instead give the money to provide a life-saving meal.

ORGANIZATIONS:

• World Food Program (Click the link in my sidebar.)
• CARE
• Bread for the World
• World Vision
• Samaritan’s Purse
• UNICEF

Question:  What are your thoughts on aid to those suffering in the famine?  If you are “giving your lunch”, how are you doing it? I’d love to hear your thoughts here.

I own part of a cow in Africa.  I was thinking of her today and what a beautiful cow she is.  I haven’t seen her but she is beautiful because of God’s story in her.  Like so many of us – beautiful because of God’s story in us.

In June, we went to Kenya to spend time with our friends and our partners. On the second morning, our partner Joel picked us up to take us to the House of Hope.

‘How did you sleep last night, Joel?’ I asked.

‘Not so well.  Our cow.  She died.’

Thinking my broken English was too broken, I said with the deepest compassion – ‘What?!’

‘Our milking cow died last night.’

Not the actual cow but a friendly Google cow for this post.

Their only milking cow – that they only had one week – got sick in night, bloated beyond help, and died.  Joel went up to the home in the night while the children were sleeping to take care of things.

Our team was shocked.  We had just mocked that cow the day before as it grazed on the soccer field.  We mourned with Joel who didn’t need this kind of blow.  Every day he fights to keep his head above water and to care for these 23 children.  Now, he was out 40,000 shillings ($400) which can be nearly 10 months salary for many Kenyans.  With school fees, food needs, medical bills, salaries to pay and water to buy due to no rain, Joel didn’t have the money.   But he never said that.  Joel never expressed doubt – only faith.  Faith that God would provide.

And God did provide.  Through people like you.  A few hours later when I knew people back home would be waking up to a new day, I posted on Facebook and put out a tweet explaining the situation and asking for donations.  By the time you all were getting the message, I was in a place without phone reception so I had to just wait until the next day.  While you were reading and responding, I was thinking and praying – praying for faith that was an ounce of Joel’s faith.  Praying for a beautiful story of God’s large Church at work.  Praying for forgiveness for my lack of faith – in God and in His people.  Praying that we would have some encouraging word to present to Joel the next day so God could honor Joel’s faithfulness.

As we drove into range, I turned on my phone and it began to buzz and ring.  We had not gone more than 1 mile when we had the $400 we needed to simply replace the cow.  By the time we hit the main road, we had $900.  I’m tearing up again as a write this.  God made a beautiful thing out of us – a beautiful miracle of faithfulness.  A beautiful cow.  Each of us added what we could, individuals from two churches in Missouri, and God brought it together to do His work, to bless Joel and to bless the children.  With $900, they could not only replace their cow, they could buy a much better cow that produces even more milk to support the children and to sell to meet the Home’s needs.

We own a cow in Africa.  And she is the most beautiful cow because of God’s story in her.  I pray that every time Joel and the children look at her, they are reminded of the people here in Missouri that love them and the God that makes us family.  Thank you for being part of this story and for being an answer to prayers.

I leave for Kenya Monday morning at 9:30 am. The team covets your prayers for safe travels and for God to bless every aspect of our trip. 

A couple of weeks ago I returned from Kenya and an amazing trip with Africa Exchange. We went to visit our partner school in Ngerenya, Kilifi, Kenya.  We had an amazing visit with the community leaders, parents, and children.  What a blessing to see in person what God is doing through this wonderful community dedicated to kingdom work in their community.  I’ll write more soon.  Please check out my pictures from the trip.

One of the tasks of our trip was to build a swingset for the children.  It was an amazing joy to help those children take their first swings – teaching them to hold on and to pump their legs to go higher.  There were smiles all around.

There are seven other centers and some of them still need their own swingsets.  Will you help out?  We only need $1,325 $1,300 to erect another swingset.  If several of us give a little bit, we can meet that goal.

Click here to give to Africa Exchange – a wonderful, mission-minded organization that is doing amazing things as they partner with Kenyans.