Sia’s Blessing

We have been working a couple of times a week with an
organization called Smile Africa which is devoted to feeding starving
children.  From the very first time that
I visited, I was greeted and have become attached to this little five year old
boy who has a smile that melts my heart but whose life has left him extremely
broken.  Sia is an orphan who lives with
his grandmother and his brother who apparently beats him and who is often found
in piles of trash digging for food.  He
is a rough kid; he picks fights with the kids around him but he is bullied
himself, he steals food from his grandmother and from the younger kids at the
feeding center; basically he is a five year old boy in survival mode.  You can only imagine the emotional stress and
defeat that can come from living a life where it seems like you are in a cycle
of distress.  The first couple of times I
visited him, I left torn to shreds from the tragedy of this little boy’s
life.  We went in a pattern:  we started off playing with a bunch of kids
and he would be laughing and having a blast; but then something would happen
where he would get trampled roughhousing or he would get in a fight and he
would run off to be by himself and would completely shut down.  My heart broke for him so I would follow him
to try and comfort him, but I always felt trapped between wanting him to feel
loved but not wanting to feed into his desperate cry for attention.   One day, I sat with him while he lay sobbing
on the ground  with the unavoidable chaos
of a feeding center full of hungry street kids and I found myself fighting the
defeat and bitterness that came from the thought that this kid has to survive
in a place where the only discipline he knows is violence and the food that he
is being fed is not only not enough but it is infested with worms that eat his
stomach away; and to top that , is the idea that if he doesn’t die by the time
he is ten, most of his family will be dead, he will have nowhere to go but the
streets and that is most likely the only place where he would ever be accepted which
is the unfortunate cycle for so many kids like him.  But even as unlikely the circumstances are
for justice in Sia’s life, I serve a God who is full of infinite possibilities
and with all of my heart I trust and believe that He is a God whose redeeming
love is the hope for all His children, no matter how broken they are.  God tells us to cast our heavy burdens on
Him; because where we are helpless to bring justice to this world, God will not
rest until justice is seen.  So I say this
to you Sia on behalf of my Father in heaven whose heart is on a mission for
redemption in your life: 

You are so dearly loved; never believe any different.  This world has done awful things to you; you see
yourself as nothing and you live and accept this life of injustice because you
don’t know of another way. But I see you; I see so much in you.  In your life, there will be redemption.  I don’t care where you come from, you deserve
to be loved and you deserve to have a voice. 
You are destined to live free.  May
you see that hope and may you run in that freedom to His love and let Him take
you in His arms and let Him love you with His unconditional love.  There is great purpose in your life that can
defeat all the odds of impossible situations. 
Do you know that you were knit together in your mother’s womb by the God
of redemption?  And do you know that you
are set apart, that you are chosen?  You
were created for greatness.  Don’t let
anyone ever tell you that you are worthless or that your life will never amount
to anything because that is a lie.    You
are a masterpiece; you are truly delighted in and adored.  May you live a life filled with peace and
true love.  May you always know that even
if the day fails you; your Father’s love never will, He will never abandon
you.  Take courage and know that you are
never alone. God is with you always and He will always guide you.   hsdfj