Pure Religion

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world (James 1:17) Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart (Zechariah 7:9-10)

Eliya (pictured left) and I met at an orphanage while helping to lead a 5-day trip of students from Haven of Peace Academy. I think he’s about 4 years old, but it’s hard to know for sure because he was abandoned. One day he was found sleeping in a public bus when the bus reached the final destination with no one else remaining. One minute he’s in his mother’s arms and when he wakes up, he’s alone, abandoned. The driver took the child (probably around 2 or 3) to the police station and Eliya eventually ended up at Agape Children’s Village. He has AIDS and though he is doing well right now, a year ago his caregivers believed he was going to die because he was so sick.
On Easter Sunday I was playing games outside of our church with the kids when an older woman stopped and greeted me. We talked for a few minutes and when I asked her where she lived she told me she was looking for a place to stay. She had been kicked out of her last home by the landlord. The landlord was the caregiver to an orphaned relative named Paulina. 8-year old Paulina is made to do all of the household work and given no food. The woman that I met had been helping Paulina by giving her some of her food and simply being kind to her. When the landlord/caregiver found out, he forced the woman to leave.
Later on Sunday I was with some friends coming back from the beach. We had to cross the harbor on a ferry. Now, first you need to understand that we don’t have waiting lines in Tanzania. The first person to be served is the person who shoves to the front and demands service. So as we’re waiting for the ferry to unload so that we can get on, everyone begins to push toward the gate and force their way forward. You can imagine fans at a major football game who begin to storm the field to celebrate victory—that is what it is like to board the ferry. So the gates open and every one “storms the field”. I could tell that there was something on the ground a bit in front of me, so I began to try to resist the tide of people thinking that someone had lost their shoe and was trying to get it. But as I get closer I realize it’s a person on the ground nearly being trampled. What was strange was that she wasn’t crying out and no one seemed to be making an effort to either help her or even to avoid stepping on her. I began yelling to the people behind me to stop pushing because someone had fallen on the ground. As I pulled her to her feet, I saw her face—she appeared to be mentally retarded. Drool was coming from her mouth and her eyes were distant and unfocused. She was so skinny that I felt I was lifting a skeleton. I helped her to the side and tried to talk to her but she was unintelligible. I looked around for someone that she may have been with but I found no one.
Why do I tell you these sickening stories of humans neglecting and abusing the vulnerable? I am hoping to paint small and incomplete picture of the need here. I recognize that these things happen all over the world, but these are the specific things that I see here. I have heard countless stories of the abuse of widows and orphans. Pray with me for justice, freedom from oppression and God’s loved to be showered upon orphans and widows here.
Above: Maria, age 7, is another orphan who lives at Agape Children's Village and has AIDS.