"He shall wipe
away every tear"
A promise from sweet Jesus as He ministers to a grieving
7 year old. Another mother gone too soon, leaving behind a thin, tiny little
soul. Heartbreaking yes,but in a village that has the highest amounts of
deaths for adults under 35, this is the norm. I must say though, this particular death has changed who I am.
Sbu
is a hyperactive, not your typical lovable little boy, who roared into The Mustard
Seed Haven each afternoon. My heart would sink as I heard him start fights, destroy toys and throw food all over the floor. Nothing moved his
attitude. Sbu was Sbu. A tiny boy who could never fit in or be at peace. He
could be totally horrible. The type of child that you would smile at with your mouth
but not with your eyes. He lived with a Mom, who tried her best as a single
Mom.
One Saturday I was awoken by frantic knocking on the door. Upon opening
it, I found a frozen,shocked Sbu. Mom was "up,up". Sbu's Mom had passed
away during the night. For a long time she had been suffering badly and I had no
idea. I soon learned that she had been feeling very weak but had continued
working as her boss said if she missed work he would dismiss her. Being a proud
lady, she had asked no one for help. Every morning,come rain or shine, she had
dragged her seriously ill body to work, walking to a job enduring a tyrant for a
boss just so she could earn less than third world wages.
There were no visible
signs of distress in this family. Sbu always dressed well, clean and greased. He seemed hungry but everyone is around here. I was never concerned
about Sbu. He was loved more than most by a Mom who worked religiously for
him. How simplistic we are as Christ followers sometimes.Christ was not like
that.
Taking Sbu's little brown,cold hand we hurried down to his shack. A
terrible scene greeted us. A lady lay still and grey on a thin, threadbare
mattress. Sbu stood stoically at my side and the ambulance lifted another tragic
life onto the stretcher. I looked around a poverty stricken shack that was in
total disarray. Standing on the floor,I observed nine plates covered in
newspaper. I lifted the newspaper and was met by a pile of burnt, oily potato
chips. Each plate consisted of the same, burnt, oily meal. Every afternoon, Sbu
would leave The Mustard Seed Haven and return home to cook his
poor,exhausted,gravely ill mother a plate of chips.This means that a seven year
old boy would sit on a mud floor, cutting up potatoes with a sharp knife and then proceeded to light a Primus Paraffin (highly flamnable stove) and fry his
mothers chips. When his poor mothers body collapsed through the door, she could then
collapse onto a mattress, eat her supper and fall into a blissful,mind numbing
sleep. Sbu would then wash his and her clothing for the next morning. When morning came, they
would present a shiny front to a world that was too busy to give them more than
a hurried,irritated glance. Sbu had been taught it is weak to ask for help. The
Sothos are a proud nation. He had heard me say potatoes cooked with their skin
on are very healthy. So purposefully and with intent, he had watched my cooking
and gone home to a dying mother.
Can you imagine the fear this poor boy (here sitting) must have felt, desperately tired and worried,not able to stay outside with other children because he had a job to do - take care of his mother. Shu is a seven year old who cannot read or
write that we all mistakenly regarded as a tyrant had a job to do. With a self
sacrificing love for his mother and a heart so good,that Jesus must have been smiling down on him, a little boy with rough edges like St Peter, had taught me another
facet of who Christ is. Because I had served Sbu with my emotions and gone only on
outer appearances, I had missed the subtle signs. Sbu and his good mother
have taught me so much.I am determined never to make that mistake again. If I
find myself putting any child in a preconceived box, I immediately remember a
dark room, a thin mattress and nine plates of burnt,oily chips. Oh, to be more
and more like Christ, so little boys never have to struggle on alone.
In the Love of Christ,
Julia
