5/24/08

You are now intering the Village of Hope.

You are now entering the Village of Hope. Imagine, you are bumping along on a dirt road with potholes the size of elephants, inside a used car that has little to no shocks. As you are bumping along you see some children walking to the maize fields.
They wave and laugh, and you wave and laugh back. Soon you pull up to a gate that was hand wielded. The guard there smiles and waves as he opens it for you. You are now entering a community, that at the first glance might seem a little rugged, but compared to most villages, is fit for a king. You pass along very slowly so that you do not smash your head on the roof of the car, or run over a stray child. On your left are two cottages with newly planted yards. You might even smell the cow manure that they are using as fertilizer. There are some children playing in the dust that seems to permeate everything.
There might be a young girl carrying a blue bucket of water over to her house. Then you wave and say hello and pass on to the next two cottages where a whole group of children are playing with a soccer ball or balloons. You exchange greetings with the housemother who is tending the fire for the next meal. I forgot to mention that for the past ten yards you were on a newly paved section of the road. Now you just bumped off. You bump a few more yards and then turn the car around and stop. Everyone heaves a sigh of relief, opens the doors, jumps out, and wipes off all the layers of dust on their clothes. You then walk to your left where the house is. There is probably a man there cutting wood or maybe someone trying to sweep. There are three little kids playing on the far corner of the porch in the dirt with empty water bottles.


You mentally thank God for the fiftieth time for all the blessings He has given you. You walk inside and are greeted by everyone in the house. Welcome to the newly built home of Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz, the founders of the Village of Hope, where presently twenty-one orphans are living.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sarah, what an amazing adventure you are having! Thanks so much for the wonderful pictures and stories of your journey. Please be safe and continue the wonderful work you are doing! Mrs. Elder, NEW American School

Gayle said...

Sarah,
Thanks for your blog site! Your thoughts and comments are a real blessing to me and we, Partners Worldwide, may we use some of your pictures and comments to encourage them? You have captured what this is all about, serving others by sharing God's love and yourself. Keep up the good work, encourage and challenge others to get off the bench and into the game for God!

Gayle Zonnefeld

Anonymous said...

keep up the good work sarah. :)
Angela(Liz's adopted daughter in christ)