Many people have asked me about the little boy I’m holding in the picture you see on the blog. I ran across my journal from the day I met this little boy when the picture was taken. So much has changed in Swaziland since then in a little over a year. Why? Because of people like you who care and are living the words of Jesus in a way that give them flesh, not lip service. This carepoint is now sponsored by Capo Beach Calvary in California. God, help us to do more. Here are my thoughts from that day:

“Today has been like no other. We went to Tembini carepoint – a very rural area outside of Mbani that feeds about 125 children.

They walk, for miles. Three years old and up. Some of them came with sweat dripping down their face. “We saw the vans and came running,” they panted. Some of the little girls arrived with even smaller girls on their backs.

The homesteads in this area were spread out across the mountainous valleys as far as the eye could see. Small mud huts and cinderblock homes littered the hillsides.

These children have experienced everything horrifying that you could imagine. Like watching their mother die of AIDS with absolutely no care and no medicine. But 8 year old Muteme would take care of her mother until the very end. Their father had already died from the virus, and mom was all they had left. Soon the mother gave up her last breath and left 3 vulnerable and innocent children behind. No money, no food, no way to work, they are just there.

So these children show up to the care center for food and some love from people who truly believe they have dignity and are a child of God no matter what their circumstance.

This little boy came up to me an grabbed my hand. He must have been about 4 years of age. Beautiful, amazing, sweet, but I could tell, very sick. His stomach was distended which meant that he lived with a very poor food supply. It wouldn’t surprise me if he only ate a mean a few times a week. He wouldn’t really smile. He just looked up at me with these haunting dark eyes that were so empty. I just picked him up, video camera in one hand, and him in the other. Just praying, just trying to love on him and show him the love of the Father. After fifteen minutes, he fell asleep in my arms sitting straight up, stiff as board. Almost like he couldn’t relax, didn’t no how to relax. I kept trying to put his head on my shoulder so he could rest, even for a few minutes. He didn’t know how to relax in someone’s arms. Maybe he had never been held with any kindness and tenderness, who knows? Finally, the love of God had its way with him and he laid his head on my shoulder as he slept. It totally broke my heart because that’s what this entire nation of Swaziland needs.”