Bombing in Boston, Flooding in Chicago, Burned Baby in Swaziland.

 Do you ever sit back and think, “The world has gone crazy”?

This week two bombs went off at the Boston Marathon killing three people and injuring 176 people.  With live television and high-speed internet the world was able to watch each moment of the blast as well as the search and capture of the two suspected bombers.  We all want to protect our children and family from harm, but it is not always possible.  It is easy to live in a constant state of fear, but fear is not from God and it can cripple us in our every day life, if we allow it to.

After a great week in Florida and Georgia (with Spencer and Chloe) and the opportunity to speak to many people and raise funds for Heart for Africa I got on a plane to Chicago. When I arrived it was snowing and many streets were closed because of flash floods and rivers overflowing.  The McDonalds in this photo was just down the street from my hotel was an “Island” surrounded by water.  Many people lost their homes in these unexpected floods and now have to pick up the pieces of their lives.  We can’t control natural disasters, but they are a part of life and we must help one another when times like these are in front of us.

Meanwhile back in Swaziland the little baby boy who was burned by his father continues to lie in a hospital fighting for his life.  He has 2^nd and 3^rd degree burns on 20%-25% of his little body and also arrived at the hospital severely malnourished and Anemic.   I am told that he needs to consume 5,000 calories per day in order to get “nutritionally stable” and give his body a chance of living and not dying.  That is pretty hard to do when you are only sipping a cup of water and gnawing on a chicken bone.  We are working on a plan and I will give a full report after I return to Swaziland and am able to share news with you.

These three “news items” don't include so many other critical issues and events that took place both globally and locally, but they are three that caught my attention this week.

I am in awe of the people who are the “first responders” in terrorist attacks, natural disasters and deliberate acts of child abuse.

We saw Firemen, Medical personnel and ordinary everyday people rush to the aid of the bombing victims who lost lives, limbs and blood.  We watched emergency response teams rush in to rescue flood victims while their homes were destroyed.  And I had the honor of watching ordinary everyday people in the US and Canada be deliberate in coming to the assistance of the little boy in Swaziland who was not on the 24-hour news, he was not in the mainstream media, but still needed rescuing from a deliberate act of child abuse.

Last week’s blog prompted an outpouring of prayer, love and financial support from the people who sacrificially gave $10, to other people who gave what they could at that moment, and still others who have committed to do all they can to have this child live a full and un-scared life.  We live in a broken world, full of sin, fear and evil.  But this week I was reminded over and over again that Jesus is securely on the throne, and while I can’t begin to understand the “why” of any of these situations, I am so thankful for people who don’t have to have the “why” question answered in order to help. 

This week I encourage you to take a moment to look around and ask who or how can you provide help and hope for someone today.  You can be a part of something GOOD in someone’s life when a lot around us looks like bad. But we have to be deliberate in our actions, just like the First Responders in this weeks news headlines.

I am in the US for two more days and look forward to spending them with Ann and Doug Williams and their friends and family in Munster, Indiana.  I am thankful for all the people who hosted events for the past three weeks to help us raise awareness and funds for Heart for Africa including:  Shelly & Barry Harp (Texas), Pam Joseph (Georgia), Beth Blaisdell (Georgia), Sandra and Andy Stanley (Georgia), Sandra Green (Georgia), Judy and John Bardis (Nevada & Georgia), Joanne Ivy (Illinois) and Kevin and Karen Burkum (Illinois).  Without your hospitality and commitment many people would have missed the opportunity to be a part of something big that God is doing in Swaziland.  Thank you also to all of you who have given so generously. 

Live from Chicago … its snowing here and I will be heading home on Monday.

Janine

PS – a quick update on “Nomsa” from my wednesdayswithnomsa.blogspot.com . Her culture results are still not back so they have sent another one away for testing. We should have results back in 4 more weeks.  Will post as soon as we know.