I
have been asked why I don't share a less positive view of living in
Africa.
  To be
honest, I think there is enough doom and gloom in the world…I personally choose
very carefully what I

look at, listen to and meditate on.
  I can get very overwhelmed, lonely and scared
living here, but the Lord always turns it around to something beautiful, so
that is what I focus on.

I
have shared with all of you the hardest part of the reality of the lives of
African children for me is…Abuse.
  I
guess it is the hardest reality of LIFE, really.
  Children every where are abandoned, abused,
enslaved, and frankly…forgotten and devalued.

I
can get very heavy at the thoughts of it.
 
I have grieved over it, and asked the Lord for answers. I have the
hardest time holding these children during the day, imagining which of them
fall prey to evil during the night.
  I picture them
alone in their little huts, in the dark, with no one
to protect them. Hold on…here is the beautiful part….HE IS LISTENING!
  He is seeing everything, and He is stirring
the hearts of His people to get involved, and to invest in and care about His
little ones. He has not forgotten one of them, and he is answering their
prayers…When you care for a forgotten little one, you become an answer to a
prayer…How amazing is that!

On
the practical side of this nightmare, I was awakened by the Lord the other
night, after falling asleep praying about this very thing.
  I went and checked on each of my six children sleeping soundly, and looked out the window.
 
There he was, our faithful guard walking our yard with a whip.
  And then it hit me, why
can't we get a guard for the children.
 
Why can't we hire some of the good men that live out in these rural
areas in need of work?
  We can train them
to walk the land at night and protect the children.
  It provides jobs to men that would otherwise have to leave their familys for work, it protects children, and
it slows the spread of AIDS.
  We simply
make the cost of the guard part of sponsorship, food, clothing, education,
spiritual, and
protection…..

Please pray with me
on this, it is no small undertaking….but I believe it is part of the answer.   I believe the God we serve is a protective Father, and good Father's want their children safe....