The Future Revealed

"Camping"

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A few times a year the Mink’s take the children camping in the Kavango region to visit their families in the nearby villages. Camping serves two purposes – first for fun, it is a real treat for the kids and second Kavango is too far to travel to and fro in one day. Mrs. Mink and the other volunteers started talking about going camping the first day I arrived at the children’s home. I kept my mouth shut and lamented to God that this not come to pass while I was still here. Typically the Mink’s have only taken the older kids and do a boy trip and a girl trip. This time however the trip grew to include boys and girls of all ages – exclusions included the babies and kids with serious disciplinary problems. I was already outside my comfort zone with the heat, bugs, food, and water - camping with 38 kids in the bush of Africa? Someone shoot me please! The other volunteers were very excited – they had gone before and said it was an experience to be had by all – they said I wouldn’t regret it –hmm, I’ll be the judge of that!

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We left on a rainy Friday afternoon and reached camp just in time to set up and have dinner. To my surprise the camp had a thatch roofed bathhouse with a working toilet and shower and we volunteers got to set up camp on a raised platform off the ground – thank you Lord.

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"Omega III"

"Omega III old military compound"

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The next morning two vans set out with kids that had family in the nearby villages – the kids who didn’t have family went with Jessica on a mini safari. I went with Mrs. Mink to the eastern most villages (the farthest away). Omega III is the name of the village that many of the children came from. Omega III is a village that has overrun an old military compound from the war days. It has a bad reputation and the children had to have an escort with them at all times. As soon as we pulled into the village the local children started running and spreading the word that we were there. By the time we made it to the police barracks to check in we were surrounded by villagers – they knew who we had with us.

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"Marsela with Grandma, Aunties, and Cousins"

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Some of the children jumped out of the van and ran to their families with great delight – others hung back in trepidation. The family members consisted of grandma’s, aunties, uncles, cousins, and some brothers and sisters. I was amazed at how much bigger and stronger our children were in contrast to their families. While I was unable to understand the children and their families as the talked in their native language (Khwedum) the hugs, kisses, and tears said it all. The grandma’s and aunties poked and prodded at the kids bodies showing their approval at how strong and healthy they were. One grandma in particular pointed to her three granddaughters and gave me the universal “thumbs-up” sign multiple times. She then pointed to the Children of Zion logo on the van and again gave me the thumbs-up – smiling with great pride. Again I didn’t need to speak her language- I understood completely that she knew that her girls were in the best place they could be – hope twinkled in her eyes.

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"A proud Grandma"

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As much as the children at the home talk about being back with their families, their families do not want them to come back – not yet anyway. The kids at Children of Zion are the fortunate ones – they have escaped death, starvation, abuse, and poverty – they have a future worth living. None of the family members said goodbye to the children with remorse - they actually pushed the ones who were struggling to leave their families sides toward the van encouraging them to go. The next morning was Sunday and we had church service around the camp fire. I actually missed most of the service because I had traveled back to one of the villages to pick up two of the oldest kids who had stayed the night with their family. Mrs. Mink asked if anyone had any testimonies or thoughts to share from the weekend – silence fell around the campfire – I walked in and said “I do”. I told the kids that it was a great blessing for me to have visited their families with them. I shared what I saw – that their families were happy, proud even, to know that their children were so well taken care of. I told them that they were chosen by God to give hope for their families. I explained what hope was – I shared about my encounter with the grandma. I told them they were going to be ambassadors for God in their villages one day. I could see in their eyes that they hung on every word I said – they were filled with mixed emotions of visiting their families and understanding the squalor and depravity they left behind. The kids think they are the unfortunate ones, the ones thrown to the waste side – but NO – they are the chosen – one day they will understand that they were not left orphaned.