I want you to walk into the smallest bedroom in your house. Take a look around. Imagine that the furniture is gone. Imagine that it has been replaced with old beat-up bunk-beds, stacked three high on three walls. That’s a total of nine beds. Now I want you to imagine 22 children sharing that room.
Next I want you to imagine that there is an identical room across the hall.
Welcome to Rachel’s Home.
When we think of a flu bug, we imagine someone resting quietly in bed. Imagine sharing that bed with two other sick children. Imagine sharing that room with 21 other sick children.
Just try to imagine it. I can’t. Even though I’ve been there; even though I’ve met the children and I’ve seen the rooms it is difficult for me to comprehend what it must be like when a flu outbreak runs through there.
It’s not difficult for me to comprehend how it happens. 43 under-nourished children, some of whom are HIV positive, all of whom have compromised immune systems, living in such tight quarters. In such an environment, an outbreak is virtually impossible to stop. More than that, in such an environment, the dangers of a so called “flu bug” are amplified many times.
So, what can we do? The problems are so big and we are so small.
God wants us to pray; but, he also wants us to act. He wants us to reach out and help them through the crisis. How? We can make sure that they have the resources that they need to cope until they can get back on their feet. Once we have done this, we can look to the future to see how we can better equip them to prevent or at least manage events like this. This is what we’re doing at Rachel’s Home. We are helping 43 children survive.
We are doing this by providing Godwill & Hilda with the tools that they need.
- We are supplying bread.
- We are supplying peanut butter.
- We are supplying milk.
- We are supplying multi-vitamins.
God has blessed us with a comfortable life, a life of abundance, a life of privilege.
It’s a huge responsibility.
Let’s make sure we live up to it. Let’s make sure we give these kids a fighting chance!
