Bandula

When the team from my home church was here about a month ago, they went to the village of Kabokweni. Elizabeth is the lady there who started a drop-in feeding program after seeing so many children in her area going hungry. She now feeds about 150 children 5 days a week. The team was able to spend a few days at her center, helping with the feeding program & doing a short VBS for the kids. The children loved it!

The last day the team spent with Elizabeth, she took them to the home of one child who needed help. Since his mother died, he had been living with his grandparents. The house was on the side of the mountain & 2 huge boulders had crashed through the 2 rooms. They were using what ever they could find to keep the rain & cold out, but it wasn't helping much. They told Elizabeth that they had no food & he hadn't eaten in a few days. The grandparents asked Elizabeth to take him in. Elizabeth told them she would pray & talk to her husband. The team was able to donate some food for the family to at least hold them over.

Bandula is still living with his grandparents, but spends every day with Elizabeth. He is able to have 3 meals a day there & take some of the burden off his grandparents. As I spent the day at Elizabeth's on Monday, he was attached to me & wouldn't let me out of his sight. Every chance he got, he would drag me to a chair & tell me, "Sit down". Then he would proceed to climb in my lap & just hold me. There were many kisses & he would turn my head if he wanted me to look at something.

It struck me how much this child just needs attention & love. His need for food is being taken care of, but what about the love of a mother? Can you imagine your child, at 5 years old, having no one to hold him or kiss him or tuck him in at night? I can't solve many problems, but I can hold a child. I can love on him & show him what God's love is like, even if we don't speak the same language. It somehow makes it all worth while.