A Humble Heart

A few days ago, I had a humbling experience that reminded me what our burdens in life should be!  Walking across the compound I happened on a scene that made me stop and take notice.  Two boys had their Swahili Bibles and were reading to the latest addition to Agape: Mourice.  Mourice was brought to Agape on a “boda-boda” (a bicycle with a passenger seat on the back).  He had been hit be a car in town, and after having his leg set in a cast on the local provincial hospital; inexplicably the hospital staff person placed him back on a boda-boda and returned him to the street.  Some kind soul, noticing his plight, put him back on the boda-boda and sent him to Agape.  

            When Bob and Peter saw this young boy brought in, their souls ached for him.  But they did not merely see the hurt in his body or the aches in his heart from being rejected by hospital personnel.  They looked deeper into the heart of this boy and saw his spiritual need.

            As we grow up, we forget the simple needs that are common to us all.  We become “wise” and “learned”; filled with a multitude of proper procedures, codes of ethics and so much psychobabble.  This is one of the joys of working in a ministry that is working primarily with children.  Often their instincts are sharper than the wise and learned ones. 

            But this lesson is not just for children.  It is a lesson for all of us.  Is your soul hurting from the aches of humanity? Has sin left a bruise on your heart?  Is death a vile enemy that invades your dreams because of the pain it has brought you? 

            This past Thursday, we enjoyed a ride into the hills north of Kisumu with the top three students in each of our classes.  It was a reward for those who had performed so well on their end term exams.  The 6 hour round trip journey was punctuated with much laughter, some food, beautiful scenery, and some great conversations.  One of our teachers had run to the bathroom with her young daughter just before we departed and ended up missing the train initially.  Much to her delight and to her son who was in tears in the seat next to me, the train backed up and retrieved her.  Of course I made sure that at each every stop along the way, she was on board.  She took the good natured teasing well.

            Another event that we have recently started is a monthly program of naming a “Servant of the Month” at Agape.  The poster hangs in the display case just outside the offices and has a 5 X 7 picture of the staff member with the list of Christian qualities displayed by the “servant’ during the last month.  Each month the employee will receive his or her certificate along with a gift that will aid them in the area of their work.  In March, Moses Miheso—a guard was named.  At the end of April we will present him with a new flashlight.