{"id":1621,"date":"2011-07-22T01:01:14","date_gmt":"2011-07-22T05:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/?p=1621"},"modified":"2011-07-22T01:21:03","modified_gmt":"2011-07-22T05:21:03","slug":"when-your-heart-breaks-and-hope-is-almost-lost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2011\/07\/when-your-heart-breaks-and-hope-is-almost-lost.html","title":{"rendered":"When Your Heart Breaks and Hope is Almost Lost"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today a terrible tragedy occurred to one of our children in Africa. This is a harsh reminder of the battle we are in between the forces of good and the forces of evil. Why it’s important for us to continue to fight and believe in a better future for these kids. It’s a lot to bear for our staff, our ministry, and for my close friends who sponsor this child. Please pray with all of us. I’ll leave this in Kriek’s words from her blog<\/a>, who is one of our staff members in Swaziland.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Today has been a very hard day for me; for all of us. Maybe one of my darkest days since we have started working here in Swaziland. I feel like packing up and leaving this country. I feel like I am done! Done fighting a loosing, hopeless battle. I am heartbroken, I am speechless, I am so angry. I don’t even now how to share this with you. We live in an ugly world, and I no longer want to be part of this.<\/p>\n

My favorite little boy, the cutest little thing I fell in love with in 2007, little Mamba, went missing today and was found dead in the bushes a few hours later. He was only 7 years old.<\/p>\n

The cold facts: He was killed by his stepfather. Hung in a tree. Then the stepfather committed suicide. Coward!<\/p>\n

I don’t understand any of this. It is so unfair! An innocent boy? Why?<\/p>\n

Hmmmmm, I remember ….. you crept into my heart that first day at the carepoint. You with your bright amazing smile. You were so cute and chubby (and almost always naked!). Your name meant ‘snake’, and your grandmother was warning me that you will bite me, just like a snake. But you smiled at me and jumped in my lap. You never bit me …. but you did try to bite the other kids that came too close to me. We shared many fun moments after that! Playing, sharing candy, laughing. Your face always light up when you saw me stop at the carepoint. You were the highlight of my visits at your carepoint. You became a legend.<\/p>\n

Bye-bye Mr. Mamba! I loved you with all my heart. I am a richer person for knowing you. You have brought me much joy and laughter. I will miss you so much! You were like my own! But I know I will see you again. I am sure you are now with our Heavenly Father, already playing and laughing. No more pain, no more hunger. You are now safe in His arms.”<\/div>\n
Little Mamba 4 years ago.<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today a terrible tragedy occurred to one of our children in Africa. This is a harsh reminder of the battle we are in between the forces of good and the forces of evil. Why it’s important for us to continue to fight and believe in a better future for these kids. 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A tireless advocate for fatherless children, Davis has spent most of his adult life calling U.S. believers to become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the 143 million orphans living around the world. Through those connections, thousands of orphans now have the bright and hopeful future--one that is filled with opportunities and the love of the one true Father. Davis speaks hundreds of times each year at churches and conferences, mobilizing the church to action on behalf of the poor. He is the author of four books. His most recent novel, SCARED is a fictionalized account of his first-hand experiencing living and working with orphans in Swaziland, Africa. Davis' blog is the premier resource for the latest developments in Christian orphan ministry. Davis also currently teaches courses as adjunct professor at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. When not traveling the globe, Davis resides in the mountains of Colorado in the small community of Palmer Lake. He and his wife Emily have seven children, including two adopted daughters from Russia.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/author\/tdavis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1621"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1623,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621\/revisions\/1623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}