Pure and Undefiled Religion... to help the orphans in distress...

February 18, 2010
As a teacher, I have many different personalities in my classroom. In class 5, the top 6 students are all girls who are well behaved and eager to learn and please me. One of these girls, whom I’ll call Alisha, is a small girl with a quiet personality and a shy smile. Left with her friends, though, you’ll hear her laughter dancing in the air as one of the other girls will catch her arm and pull her into whatever game they’re playing in the school yard. Her older brother is much like her- a good student, respectful, hardworking. They are well liked by both students and teachers alike.

On Sunday, I stayed home from school to give my leg one more day to heal and to pick up my X-rays from the hospital, and in the afternoon I walked over to the Cyber shop during our 2 hours of daylight power. On my way, I was surprised to meet up with the girls of class 9, including Rami and Ranjita. Their words all tumbled over one another, making it impossible for me to sort out why they weren’t in school and why they were walking as a pack down the street. Finally, I pieced together their reason, and I felt as though someone had knocked the air out of me. “Alisha’s mom died yesterday and we’re going to give her and her brother support!” I wasn’t sure I had understood correctly, so I asked them to repeat it one more time, with dread filling me as they repeated the same statement.

Astounded, I asked how it had happened. During the nights here it gets very cold, and while most nights the blankets are warm enough, some mornings you wake up shivering from the cold basking your exposed face. Alisha’s mom suffered from low blood pressure, and during the night the cold had caused her blood pressure to drop too low, and she never woke up in the morning. As their dad is who knows where (a common theme of the children here), Alisha slept with her mom each night to keep warm. Waking up in the morning, she turned to awake her mom only to find a cold still body next to her. Crying out and shaking her, she drew her brother into the room who also tried to arouse their mom and called for an ambulance. When they realized that their mother was gone, the tears flowed freely. That same night Alisha’s older brother lit the fire to burn their mother, with just a few relatives joining them.

The girls asked me if I wanted to come with them to Alisha’s house to give support and love, and to be honest, I didn’t. I didn’t know what to say or how to respond or what to do. I made up a thousand reasons not to go in my mind in the seconds that followed, but I knew that I was placed here for such a time as this, and in my weakness, God would pour on His love. So we walked to their relatives home where they were staying, and cautiously approached the house. I think the girls were as unsure as I was in how to show them love when such pain had fallen upon them. Alisha’s brother was outside, and the class 9 boys were huddled around him, hugging him, and just sitting there. It was a pretty beautiful scene.

Alisha didn’t want to come out, but she did when her aunt had her help serve us drinks. I felt horrible. Here we were to love on them, and they insisted on giving us cold sodas. The girls and I tried to refuse, but they just set the drinks at our feet and then walked back inside while we sat with her brother. And all I could do was pray that God brought comfort upon this home, that He would heal the wounds and draw these orphans to Himself.

After a few minutes, the girls and I left. That night, during devotionals, the kids and I talked about what had happened and how we could encourage Alisha and her brother. I think the kids understood better as most have felt the rejection of a father, though only a couple have lost their mothers as well. We talked a lot about death being final, and how important it is to use every opportunity to share Jesus with those around us, as none of us are guaranteed the next minute, much less tomorrow. We all wrote notes in a couple of cards that I had picked up, and I was impressed with how thoughtful the kids were in what they wrote. I guess in a society where death comes much sooner for most than most of the rest of the world, the kids grow up almost expecting pain like this.

Surprising to me, both Alisha and her brother returned to school the next day. I guess some sense of normalcy helps distract us from pain. While a hint of pain etched itself across her face, her smile returned occasionally when the girls dragged her into one of their games. She’s staying with her aunt for now, who has a daughter who’s also in class 5, but her aunt can’t afford to pay for her tuition, so the principal has given her brother and her full scholarships to finish high school. I can’t help but pray every time I see her sitting in my class, alternating between staring out the window and taking notes. She’s still one of my best students and I hope that through this she sees the light of Jesus and feels His peace wash over her. It reminds me of how many children are left as orphans each day throughout the world because of death or abandonment. And I pray that God would pour out His love on each and every one of them, healing the wounds and pains from this world.