Niclette

2 million people have fled their homes in Central & East Africa for other countries or regions. Maybe they left because of war, or a high threat of violence or rape. Maybe they left because of famine or drought. Probably they left family members behind. Loved ones, just like your loves ones, just like my loved ones. Just a statistic. Just a statistic, until you hear about how her father died in Congo a week ago. The money isn't there, though, for going home to be with her family. The money wasn't there a week ago to buy airtime to talk with her father. The money wasn't there a month ago to send for him to get medical treatment. The money isn't there, so she sits on the cement floor and weeps.

USA, deaths per live births, 4 out of every 1000. East Africa, deaths per live births, 30 out of every 1000. Just some numbers. Just some numbers, until you sit on a plastic chair in a crowded corner of a tiny one-room shack down a narrow dirt ally of a noisy slum. Just numbers until you watch the tiny, lifeless bundle being laid on a towel in another corner. Just numbers until you see silent tears roll down the cheek of a broken mother, robbed of the day's joy, rewarded for a difficult night of labor with nothing but grief and heartache. She sits on the cement floor and weeps.

Actions speak louder than words. Just a saying. Just a saying, until you hear that her husband is a Muslim. He watched, a week ago, as his wife received a phone call from Congo and sank to the floor. Just a saying, until you hear how he watched as none of his Muslim friends came to grieve with her, but her friends from church came and sat with her for three days. Just a saying, until you hear how he watched helplessly as his wife and newborn child were rushed to the hospital on a motorcycle taxi. How again, his Muslim friends were absent but followers of Jesus surrounded his wife from the moment something went wrong. He sees how they care for each other, and take care of each other, and sacrifice for each other. He follows the Muslim tradition of burying the baby the same day, but he refuses to let the burial proceed until the Christian pastor arrives to lead the service. How beautiful it is when the Body of Christ acts like the Body of Christ. How beautiful it is when His children love each other, and love others even though they might be different from us.

God could have revealed His glory that day by miraculously healing a baby. He didn't do it that way this time. But I know that He somehow used a tragedy to reveal a little bit more of His love to a man who might come to know Jesus one day soon.

Please pray for Niclette – for comfort and peace as she has lost so much in just a few days. Please pray for her husband – also for comfort, and that He would come to know Jesus.