The past two and a half weeks have really been eye-opening. They have reminded me about just how blessed/spoiled I really am and how every day I take these blessings for granted. A week ago, I met a ten year old boy named Sharif who was taken in by a Muzungu (white woman) named Anya. Maria just kept saying how good he looked and how healthy he was now and went on to explain that this cute, little boy was nothing but skin and bones, close to death, because of a drug addiction that he had. I still cannot even wrap my mind around this innocent, little boy living on the streets, even worse addicted to drugs because it was the only thing that made the suffering subside some. This is just one of the numerous, powerful testimonies that I’ve heard over the past couple weeks. What is encouraging about each of these testimonies is that in the end, each of the boys telling me their stories mentions how great God is for bringing them off the streets, for providing them with a home, an education, people who care for them and for God’s overall provision and love.
Those testimonies and those boys had already begun tugging my heart, challenging me to become more thankful for what I’ve been given, but today I heard another testimony that shook me even more. This morning I had the blessing of getting to meet Chad Allen, a thirteen year old who had been on the streets since he was six. Chad ran up to me as soon as we arrived at street reach this morning, grabbed my hand, and didn’t leave my side until we left. Amongst learning how to say lion (Mpologoma), goat (Mbuzi), and cow (Nte), I also had the opportunity to learn a little bit about Chad’s life. Chad’s mom died when he was young and as many Ugandan men do when their wives die, his father brought home another wife. Between the new wife not wanting Chad or his brother in the house, his father bringing home another woman which infuriated the 2nd wife, and his father’s drunken rage, Chad and his brother were forced out onto the streets to fend for themselves. Chad told me that he had not seen his brother since 2007 and had no idea whether or not he was alright, or even alive. He then went on to tell me some of the many hardships of growing up on the streets, which sadly have become all too familiar for me to hear about recently. What came out of his mouth next, however, caught me off guard. Right after telling me about how much he has struggled in his short life he said, “God is good all the time, all the time God is good!” Wow! I mean it’s almost expected to hear a boy taken in from off the streets by a Christian organization to say that, but to hear those words come from a boy still on the streets with one outfit, worn out shoes, no bed, no parents, no clue where his brother is, and no guarantee of food and water when he needs them? This challenges me so much! I don’t want to just be thankful, I want to be content! If a boy with so little can love and praise God for what he has been given, why can I not be more than satisfied with all that I have? I want to live every moment realizing that God has already provided more than enough for me. It may not be the best, the newest, or the prettiest, but it is enough because He is enough.
Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. – Philippians 4:11-12
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:19
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