Slum Oasis

As we have visited the same slum area three different times in the last few years there is one place that stands out in my mind.

This little place is toward the end of the slum area.  Usually the deeper you go into a bad area when there is much poverty the worse the condition. 

  This one particular place at the very bottom of the slum stands out like a sweet little oasis. 

It has a door, which is rare, it has a little porch like step to get out of the mud and dirt, which is rare, and it has a gate, like a little baby gate, and it is clean of all garbage.  The whole thing is about the size of a bedroom, but it stands out, and looks safe and cared for and full of healthy life.

This time as we rounded the last corner as we were going thru the slum I was holding my breath thinking I had just made up that little place or thinking I had exaggerated it or remembered it wrong, or thinking maybe it would be a big mess this time and it didn't last.

Last time as we came to it, the children were safe and cared for behind the little baby gate, and the dad was sweeping the dirt outside.  This time as we came to it, the place still looked like an oasis, right in the midst of the slum,  and the dad was happily playing with his small children.  I went over to talk to him and encourage him for all his hard work and compliment his beautiful family,  and his happy and smiling wife, heard our voices and poked her head out from the curtain that was in front of the opened door. This just added more beauty to the picture of this sweet little place.

This stands out in my mind of how all of God’s children are safe and protected and cared for and provided for even if we live in rough living conditions.  Our Father is close and watchful and caring for us.  We may live in a world with a whole bunch of garbage strewn about, but if we stay close to Him, we are in His care and our lives will look different than those around us.

When we offer candy to these children as we do all throughout the walk thru the area, these kids are different.  They do not grab and they do not run up to us, they are polite and they first look at their father to see if he approves of what we are offering.  Oh if we could grasp this concept in our relationship to our Father God.  May we not reach and grab for the things that seems so sweet, but always look to the Father for guidance and direction and let Him tell us what to reach for and what to leave alone.

The pictures are not from the house or the area I was describing.  I did not get any pictures, as sometimes people feel like you are exploiting poverty if you take random pictures.

  I added this picture above instead, as this is some friends of ours.  Charlie got to baptize Eve, the mom of these 5 children when she was pregnant with #4.  Eve works at Redeemer House.  This family is so beautiful and has the joy of the Lord just bubbling out of them.  The dad in this picture is name is Moses and he doesn't have use of his legs, but he works as a baker right in the place where this picture is taken, and he is a hard working man that loves his family and cares for them so very much. This family inspires and humbles me.