Throw Them Away?

I was focusing on the little girl to the right and my camera didn't move.

Last week we had the honor of having two of our pastors from Ohio come and visit us.  We also got to show them around Kinshasa and even the village of Kikongo in Bandundu Province.  During our touring we took them to a couple of children homes.  I usually go to a Catholic home just outside of town to visit orphans, Kibondo orphanage, but we chose to take them to two other homes right within the city.  The first one we visited is run by two missionaries.  They have delegated overseeing the home to Papa Nono.  There are about 15 boys who live there right now.  Each one has a different story but for some reason, their parents can’t or won’t take care of them and they have found their way to Elikia (Hope).  Here they are given a bunk to sleep on, no mattress, but with a mosquito net.  They also receive at least two meals a day.  This seems very harsh but it is so much better than being on the street and not knowing when you will get another bite to eat.  Along with this they also have their school fees paid.  Also this home wants to be sure that each boy is taught about Jesus and what it means to follow Him.

This little deaf boy, Giovani stole my heart.

Papa Nono does not stop there with his child care.  He also had five other children with him that he is caring for in his own home, three girls and two boys.  These children have been approved for adoption.  They are true orphans.  As I looked at them I could see that they had some nutritional problems, that red hair was not genetic.  So I asked what they had been eating.  They get plenty of fufu  (manioc roots) but very little protein. Fufu is not known for its nutritional value but it does make people feel full.  It sounded like they would get some greens too but I doubt that it was often enough.  So I stored in my brain, “These children need some beans right now”.

Lydia and Papa Nono with 3 of 44 children at the home. 

Lunch or dinner?  They got greens with their fufu!

Papa Nono has also begun a separate childrens’ home, Ma Famille. This home was started because the Congolese Government was looking for people to open their homes to more children from off the streets.  Papa Nono kept expressing that these children had been “kobwaka” or “thrown away”.  I use this word for my trash or old wash water every day.  Papa Nono has a team of people who go out and look for children who are living on the streets.  They bring them to the home, and from there they look for the children’s families and ask why they were thrown away.   Their hope is to either return them to their home or to find new homes for these children.  Since they are just starting up, the adoption process is just beginning.  Right now Papa Nono says he has 12 children available for adoption from Ma Famille.  While I am excited for this new ministry, I also move with caution. There are many adoptions happening here in Congo but it is extremely important that all is legal both here in Congo and in the adopting country.  Some families actually do adopt here but there is a large amount of international adoptions happening.  It is too easy for parents to “kobwaka” their child thinking they will get a good education in America or Europe but still be their child.  I appreciate that the U.S. Embassy is beginning  to investigate to be sure that each of these children are adoptable. 

A recent verse I have been studying is James 1:27 “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress and keep ourselves unstained by the world.”  Does one visit to them give us the check mark that we need to fulfill this verse?  What does this mean for the country of Congo which is considered “Christian” on the statistics charts?  How do we as Christians  live this?  Where should we start?  I am not going to answer this but I will keep asking and praying.  I am asking what God wants me to do next.  I am asking for God to change the hearts in this country, that the father's would turn their hearts to their children and practice Deuteronomy 6: 4-7. I am asking that God will provide for these children one by one as individuals and not as a mass.