“I want you to have her,” said the 21 year old mother.
What? I must have heard her wrong. Have her daughter?
I met a beautiful young woman, Deti, and her gorgeous 2 year old daughter the other day. After I found out her name she instantly asked how old I was. At first I was confused but once I told her I was 20 she said, “I want you to have her.”
“What?” I responded.
“I want you to have her.”
“Why?” I responded.
“Because I can’t feed her; I have no money.”
My heart broke into a million pieces. Deti didn’t beat around the bush, she just blatantly asked if I would take her precious daughter from her so she could have a better life. This beautiful single mother looked at her daughter with such sadness because she loved her so much but knew what she was giving her was not enough.
As the conversation continued she told me that she was the oldest of 7 children. All of her siblings live with her Gogo (grandma). Deti desperately wants to go to school but can’t afford to and doesn’t have time because she has to take care of her daughter. She lives 5 kilometers (3.2 miles) away from the Care Point where she comes everyday with her daughter to get one free meal.
Every time she asked a question about my life, the conversation kept coming back to her asking if I could take her daughter, if my family could take her, or if I had extra food at home to give her. She was desperate for something better for her daughter’s life.
This isn’t an uncommon story to have in Swaziland: young mother, fatherless child, no income, and not enough to eat.
She then shared that her little girl was sick with the flu but couldn’t take her to the doctor or get medicine because she didn’t have the money. I asked if I could pray for her daughter and before I could even finish the question she very willingly handed over her daughter and bowed her head to pray. As I prayed I was overwhelmed with sadness for this little family. From a worldly perspective they have no hope. But the amazing thing about life is that we have something much greater than this world. God. He is our comforter, provider, and amazingly loving daddy. He wraps us up in His arms when we are feeling discouraged by the world.
This isn’t the end of their story. God is going to use me this month to show that hope to that family. God has amazing plans for this family and they WILL be a light in the darkness of Swaziland.
It’s okay to feel broken for this family because God’s heart is breaking for them. His heart breaks when they walk 10 kilometers everyday, every time Deti has to tell her daughter they are going another night without food, and every time Deti sheds a tear because she can’t take her sick daughter to the doctor. But we can’t dwell on that, we need to pray, love, and show who Jesus is to ALL of the Deti’s in our lives. Don’t loose hope because God hasn’t.
“Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts. In order to make certain that what you hope for will come true.” -Hebrews 6:11
