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Friends United Meeting |
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June 2001
Caring for Orphans and Widows
By Jason Nightingale
"Lightning," a young man of ten years, looks about seven or eight because of malnutrition which he endured before he came to the Monrovia Home Orphanage where he now resides. His father was killed and his mother disappeared during the war. Relatives brought him to the home along with his brother, Frederick (13), and his sister, Boto (11).
When we first met Lightning, we didn't know about his siblings or anything else. We were in California sifting through pictures of Liberian Orphans. We were drawn to him because he was wearing a "Minnie Mouse" sweatshirt (not many American boys would sport "Minnie Mouse") and because of his name--Lightning Richards. No one seems to know why he was called Lightning. A thunderstorm comes to mind, or perhaps a hope that in so naming him he would grow up to be a fast runner and a soccer star (Liberians love soccer). But his name caused us to look a little closer at his picture and then send money in his name to the African Christians who care for him, and hundreds like him. We began praying for him, becoming informed about his country and what God might be doing there. We also began to hope somehow we might get to meet Lightning, but Liberia is a long way from California...
Our prayers were answered when my wife, Sharon, and I were invited to Liberia, West Africa, to speak at the annual meeting of African Christians Fellowship International (ACFI). We were going with the purpose of building up this independent, African, Bible-believing, Jesus-preaching church, and to meet our young friend, Lightning.
We had sought to keep abreast of the situation in Liberia and knew of their recent civil war. As is often the case, we received much more than we gave, and were not prepared for what we saw and heard.
Years of civil war and governmental corruption have left this nation in ruins. In Monrovia, the capital of over a million people, there is food in the market, but no money. There are no tools, no jobs (85% unemployment) and very little hope. Children are everywhere (50% of the population is under 15 years old).
The scars from the war are evident wherever one looks--ruined and bullet-pocked homes and buildings, amputations, scarred faces and mangled bodies. But deeper scars reside in the hearts and minds of the people, especially young people. They told us harrowing tales of murder, capture, brutality, and witchcraft now causing fear, hunger and general deprivation. Children were forced to witness the slaughter of their parents, forced to serve as child soldiers, to kill, to hunt members of other tribes, to be hunted, to eat grass because there was no food, to hide in the bush for weeks in well-founded fear for their lives.
Life is just now beginning to return to some level of normalcy. Food is to be had and most of the killing and shooting have ceased, but the needs are great. In Liberia alone there are thousands of street kids who must fend for their own needs, thousands of war and AIDS orphans are in orphanages, thousands of widows, many with children they cannot feed, clothe or educate. Almost every teenager we met has malaria, and his or her education has been interrupted for five to ten years because of the war. The needs of these children and widows have a claim on us as disciples of Jesus.
Wanting to see and touch a smaller, more intimate portion of those in need, Sharon and I went to Liberia. Our visit started in Monrovia, but most of our time was spent in the countryside. We joined over 2000 African Christians at an old mission station on the jungle coast where we ministered with four other preachers from North America. Though surrounded by the ruins of war, we sang the high praises of God, prayed, preached, studied and fellowshipped for eight days. It was wonderful! We fell in love with our fellow believers, some of whom had walked a week or more to be there.
In 1986, Dr. Ed Kofi and his wife Cecelia came to America seeking help to build an orphanage for the already growing number of war orphans. As they attempted to return to Liberia, they and their children were separated from each other and had many harrowing experiences--traffic and aircraft crashes, kidnapping, medical evacuation, but finally family reunification. Although ACFI grew during the war and even spread to Sierra Leone, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, it was at the cost of many lives. This African church (ACFI), founded and overseen by Africans, is fulfilling the Great Commission and the "pure religion" commission of James 1:27.
Currently, ACFI has four orphanages and cares daily for 1600 orphans and indigent children. When we visited the Monrovia orphanage, we finally were able to meet Lightening, a shy boy who walked around the orphanage with us. He hid behind me, holding up the soda bottle we had purchased for him toward his friends, pleased he had gained a nickel refund. Having shoes to walk on the glass encrusted ground enabled him to lead us to the church compound a block away. We talked, we hugged, we prayed. We promised to help and return again.
We visited two orphanages and talked with the other children. We listened to their stories, cried, prayed, laughed and played with them. We gave them what we could, took pictures and told them we wouldn't forget them.
Thousands of widows spend much of their time outdoors, cooking over charcoal fires, washing clothes and caring for their children. Since returning home, we collected 18 sewing machines and sent them with invertors to be powered with car batteries enabling a few widows to begin earning money. If I could load a ship with supplies, I would!
James reminds us that caring for widows and orphans in obedience to the commands of God is a Christian calling. Whether it is in your neighborhood or across the sea, we are not to forget.
Jason Nightingale is a professional scriptureteller. He, and his wife Sharon, travel continually sowing the Word and raising awareness of the needs of orphans and widows in West Africa. Jason is a member of Marshalltown (Iowa) Friends.
Copyright (c) 2001 Friends United Meeting
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