Thursday 11 June 2009

The "Right" Decision

When you discover, that just as an iceberg, only the tip on the looming mountain of need is visible,
You begin to find comfort in the uncomfortable,
Stories of families, while still heart breaking, no longer shock you,

As ‘Mzungus’, we represent hope,
There are those whose hope is fading, we represent a glimmer,

It's the story of a young girl,
Her family attacked during the civil war,
Left for dead amoung her silent brothers, sisters and parents in their hut,
Of the 8, 3 survive, bearing the scars of the machete across their faces, necks and wrists.

Yet this young girl grows,
Is happily married, has children of her own,
And while she loses her husband to the lake, she persists, for the sake of her children,

Yet those scars are like a curse, slowly sucking the life from her body,

At word of mzungus, she packs her bag, and her children,
With three little ones in two she makes the daunting journey,
Along road beyond disrepair, through bouts of malaria,
To the church where Mzungus come,

She has heard about our childrens homes,
She's been told we will help,
We will provide for her children, we will give her children an education, a chance,

It's worth the journey,

She arrives to find she's early, the mzungus have not yet arrived,
She's told that the inn is full, there is no more room in our homes,

Yet she clings to the chance to talk to the mzungus,
She's sure that they will have an different answer,
If they just knew her story,

And they do, they arrive,
At church she demonstrates her grasp of the Word,
She helps around the property, clearing land with her one good hand,
How could they deny her?

She waits two weeks to gain the courage to talk to them,
Even then, she paces outside for some time before they notice her,
Too shy, too nervous to knock,

Now she allows the thoughts and the words of the others to creep into her head,
What if they say no?

She enters, not knowing even the words,
She doesn't speak English, how will they understand her.

As if on cue the pastor comes,
But it is not as she hoped,

Her mind clouds,

He knows of her plan, he has come to stop her...

She slips away,
She can't bear it,

Later the mzungu finds her, sitting in the church,
He's with the pastor but,
This is it, he has come to set things straight,
He has come to listen,

He says he feels there was something she wanted to say,
And so the mzungu listens as she tells her story,
As she pleads for him to provide a place for her children,

And as he listens, his heart breaks,

How could anyone say no?
They would have to be heartless,
They would have to be ignorant,
They would have to be this mzungu,

He tries to explain that her children need the love of their mother right now,
He tries to tell her that God is revealing Himself to them through her devotion to them,
He tries to show her the love of the congregation, that they will cover her in prayer,
He tries to comfort her and tell her that God is good, and that He will watch over her and her children,

He knows its true, but it feels like tripe,
She knows its true, but her heart aches,

He has offered to drive her home, to provide some food provisions and to talk to her pastor and community,

The long drive is a silent one, he doesn't feel any better about his decision even though he knows it's the right one,
Upon reaching the home and finding her crippled mother in the field, trying to pick through the forest of weeds, to save her crops,

The community has made a plan,
And the hands and feet of Christ will be put to use,
but still,

How could anyone drive away from this?
And while she musters up a smile and waves as they drive off in a cloud of dust,
He sits behind the wheel, heavy with doubt...

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Mzungu