who's idea was this?

not mine. here i sit, finally in khartoum, going on 5 days+ now and it feels like 5 months. the boys at the children's center welcomed me with scrawny little open arms. i sleep on a homemade cot in a dusty little cement room, my shower is a bucket, and i feel like a queen among these destitute little ones. it's rude to even think of them as destitute, as they have more spirit, joy, and ridiculous humor than i ever did at that age. while i was clutching blankies and catching fireflies, they are sewing clothes and making rhythms out of metal tables. they giggle when you try to speak arabic with them and are constantly dancing. they also consider each other family. many of these children aren't actually orphans, but just have bad family situations that allow them to see their parents or relatives only about once every 2 weeks. they forget about the lifelong neglect of their homes and societies when they are with families every other weekend. this is sudan. just this morning the UN claims over 5 million have fled darfur and at least 300,000 have relocated to khartoum. this is a hard and lonely place...one that continues to need our attention.


i've obviously traveled a long way, paid a lot of my own and other peoples' money, and sometimes feel stupid for indeed being another white girl in africa. outside of limited materials, i really have nothing to offer them. but one thing they do understand is that when a white chick from minnesota comes and sleeps on their cots, eating their rice and lentils, and living under their rules and malaria mosquitoes, she's not here to party. i am here because i love them, because their own mothers, fathers, and government have neglected them-despised them, because i have been loved by a God who cares deeply for the oppressed and who uses weak and ignorant people like me to show them His love. He is Love. i am a follower of Christ, as you may have found out, and He has completely saved me from myself, loved me with unthinkable love, and provides for me every day. i am humbled by His friendship, that i can call Him friend. this is why i must testify to His love. it is divine, and i want these boys, my friends, to drink of it. He is still the only truth that sets me free. that's why this is His idea.



pictures are on the way, but due to some unruly circumstances, now is not the time. love to each of you.