HOPE

Throughout my day I am always telling myself to remember certain things that happen so that I can tell you. The list of things I had in my head before 3:30 included Garth’s two trips to Abeh one with a child whose eyes needed immediate attention by a doctor, my troubles with our pembantu that resulted in my letting her go today, and various other unimportant things. However, after 3:30 my perspective changed. Wyatt and I went to the orphanage like planned. When we got there, there was an ambulance just leaving. Usually the kids all come running out to greet us, full of excitement that we are there. But today, no one came out. There was a weird eerie stillness in the air. We went to find the sisters in charge and were quickly told that one of the girls had just died. It was a 17 year old girl named Karia. Her mother had died years before so she was living in the orphanage. She had been in the hospital for three days to be treated for malaria and typhus. Today at 1:00 she died in the hospital. They had just brought her body back when we got there. Suddenly, the stillness was broken with wails, and loud heart-breaking sobbing and weeping. We went down to the chapel and saw it was filled with girls crying for their lost friend. The boys were all sitting outside. I was told that one thing many people believe here is that you must wail loudly to show how sad you are. That chases away the evil spirits. If you aren’t sad enough the spirits will stay. Girls were sprawled all over the floor in the chapel. I saw a small bench in the back and sat down. One of the girls from my English class came over and put her hand on my shoulder. She said to me in English, “My friend just died.” And she began to cry. I told her to sit down by me and I just hugged her. She grabbed on to my arm and cried. She said this girl was like her big sister and her heart was breaking. As I sat there watching I thought about how the things I was upset about before just didn’t matter anymore. Life, and what you do with it is so much more important. Little things can become big things in your head if you latch onto them and hold grudges. But that does you no good. That moment, being there for the girls in my class, experiencing it with Wyatt, puts things in perspective. My days need to consist of more than just the things I do. It needs to be the people I touch and the things I’ve learned. Ways I have changed and grown and the things I have done for God. Thinking about this made me change my whole curriculum for that class. Instead of just teaching them colors and foods and parts of the body, etc.-I am going to give them a hope. Something that they can hold on to in times when their hearts are breaking. Life doesn’t end at death. God has made a way for us to spend eternity with Him in Heaven by believing. (John 3:16) He is my hope.
Rachel