A Visit to some Makindu Orphans

I've been eager to meet of the people of Makindu that we have been hearing so much about, and I expect you have, too. And now we have the opportunity to do just that, so hop on a bike and join me for a trek into the Savannah countryside.


Today's visit will be to Agnes' homestead. Since it is about a 10 kilometer (6 mile) ride, we'll need to stop and rest along the road. Here is Lawrence's son, Alvin, who is often involved in visiting the orphans in their homes.


After a good hour trip, we bump up a winding lane between barren trees and dead bushes. "It can be beautiful during the wet season," we are told, "but it is the dry season now."


Here is the house where Agnes and her grandchildren sleep. Since the death of her two daughters and their husbands (due to AIDS, which is a common but sensitive topic to these people), she has been caring for her five grandchildren in desperately poor conditions.


Agnes (who prefers to go by her second name, Tabitha) comes out to greet us with three of her grandchildren. She has no job and with the recurring drought it has been nearly impossible to provide for her family on her 10-acre homestead. She receives the food we have brought gratefully. She would like to attend the meetings in Makindu, but it is impossible because of the distance. It is a blessing when someone can come out to hold short services and have a Bible study with her.


Progress is being made on her new house, and we stop to help a little before we head on. Clay soil is common and so, with enough water to make bricks, Tabitha has been able to build cheaply. Some good neighbors have helped, and the visiting ministers give a hand when they are able.


Simon Shadrack Mbungi is Tabitha's 17-year-old grandson. He is planning to be trained at the Bible Center in basketry, a skill which could help sustain the family. Along with his grandmother, he will learn how to make food warming and cooking baskets which have a ready market here.


Until the new Center is ready, Simon lives in this little house next to his grandmother's.


Before we leave, we stop by the homestead's toilet shelter. Though these people live by the barest necessities, it is pleasure to see the courage and hope they have shown by making the best of them.


Our long ride home gives us many things to think about. The dry landscape reflects the difficult conditions that these people live under. "If we get enough rains in October, we will be blessed," our guide tells us. "Please, pray that we are blessed with them. If the rains fail, we are in for a very severe famine until the next rains come in March."

Let us pray, too, that these dear ones will be sustained by the water of Life in the midst of their loneliness and hardship. It is our place "to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction" (James 1:27). Why? Because that is where Jesus is - right among "the least of the these," carrying their load and loving them through it. Am I one with Him?


"He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man will serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be..." John 12:25-26