LIGHT FOR THE JOURNEY

July 07
“CONNECTING HEARTS ACROSS THE WORLD!”  PART I

Nearly 100 toddlers laughed and played with the mission team on the lawn of Amani Baby Cottage in Jinja, Uganda. Some scampered across the lawn chasing balloons while others stood baffled, looking at their empty hands where a balloon had just popped.  Several of us had walked five or six blocks from the Calvary Chapel mission compound to the orphanage to hold and play with babies.  Housing mostly orphans from infancy to five years old, the grounds buzz with activity.  Several infants housed at the Cottage are preemies because the hospital in Jinja is ill equipped to care for them.  The Amani Baby Cottage has an incubator.  We were given a tour of the orphanage buildings, clinic and grounds, and held babies along the way.  The other ladies began blowing balloons to create animals, hats, swords and flowers for the children.  I picked up a tiny girl who held her hands up to me and I soon learned her name is Annie.  She attached herself to me and would not let me put her down.  Each attempt brought a loud wail and she clung tighter to me.  My heart ached with desire to do more for Annie than just hold her for a few minutes, but for this moment, it was all I could do so I sat in a swing with her on my lap and held her close.  An adorable little boy with a big smile walked up to us and handed Annie the red balloon he was carrying.   Looking into my eyes and with very good English, he asked, “What’s your name?”  I said, “My name is Jan. What’s your name?”   “My name is Jesse,” was his quick reply before he ran off with a friend.  Soon afterward, I saw Jesse and his friend with balloon “hats” on their heads.  They looked like they had won a prize.  The children were so precious and most have lost their parents to AIDS.  There is a tremendous need for Amani Baby Cottage and other orphanages like it in Uganda.
When I returned to the mission compound, a young woman was sitting on one of several stump “stools” under the Plumeria tree by the church.  Holding out her hand to me, she said, “I need to talk to you.”  I took her hand and sat next to her.  “Do you remember me?” she asked.  “I’m Caroline.  I was in prison when you were here before and I sent prayer requests to you.  What I asked prayer for was impossible.  One prayer was that I be allowed to go to court and be released.  There was no chance for me to get to court but six months later, I was called to court and released from prison.”  At this point, I was weeping and praising the Lord with her.  “The other prayer request I sent was for my children.  I had not seen them for a very long time and I didn’t know if they were even alive.  My prayer was for God to make a way for me to see them and know they are well.  Since then, I have seen my children and one day, when I learn the tailoring trade, I can start a business and will be able to have them with me.  I have no way to support them yet.  You just came from the orphanage where my youngest son stays.  His name is Jesse.”
My heart nearly burst at God’s perfect timing.  When Caroline told me about Jesse I remembered “Baby Jesse” at women’s prison when I was there in 2005.  He was only a year old and the ladies passed him to each other during Bible study so they could take turns holding him.  The women in Ugandan prisons are allowed to keep a child under two and some babies are born there.  When they reach two, other homes must be located for them.  I remembered that Beverly Rich, the missionary who teaches the Bible study, was concerned because Jesse was malnourished and she had sent boiled eggs to him every day.  What a thrill to see Jesse’s mother out of prison, looking so well and excited about a new business to support her children.  But more importantly, praising God for answered prayer and walking in relationship with Him.
Caroline and I talked for some time about her life and how God has blessed her.  She told me she had letters from Prayer Warriors For Prisoners and returned the next day with several Christmas cards from PWFP volunteers.  She held them tenderly, opening each one for me to see.  My heart skipped a beat as I thought about sharing my encounter with Caroline with those who sent the cards.  How blessed they would be.
I’m not sure how God does it, but in His sovereignty, He connects hearts across the world and eternal friendships are created.  Caroline doesn’t seem to fit in the category of “one of the least of these” but she does, along with others Jesus identifies with in Matthew 25:  Orphans, widows, homeless and prisoners.  The “least of these” might be a neighbor, parent, friend or brother because the neediest, whether they would admit it or not, are the spiritually poor, eternally lost souls who need a Savior.  It is our mission as Christ’s disciples, to share the Good news of the Gospel with them, wherever they are.  “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.  Matt 28:18-20” NKJV

© June 2007 Jan McLaughlin  All rights reserved.
Jan McLaughlin is Director of Prayer Warriors For Prisoners and can be reached at 719-275-6971 or by e-mail, prayerforprisoners@msn.com.