Joy.

Winding through the dusty paths in Mulenga, crossing through plots, passing drunk men and hundreds of young children, we came to Joy's house. It is a small rented room connected to a number of other rooms where families stay. We entered the room with Beauty and Sylvie, two beautiful care workers in Mulenga. We sat on the floor and were instantly bombarded by a number of children. Inny, 3, sat on my lap while his twin, Vinny, began playing in Will's. On the walk to the house Beauty and Sylvie were trying to explain how all the children were related and what the situation was. We knew all their names before meeting them, so the first 5 minutes was trying to figure out who was who. Ruby, 17, is the head of the house, and has an 8 month old baby girl, Mary. Her sister (call her the Big Mother) is the mother of Lea (7), Inny (3) and Vinny (3). Big Mother also is taking care of Joy (5), her grandaughter. Joy's mother ran out on her a few years ago. We were told Big Mother is a drunkard and was recently fighting with the neighbours. The neighbours called the cops and she ran also, leaving Ruby to care for all the children.

So here was Will and I, sitting with 5 abandoned children, Joy twice. Sylvie sat next to Ruby, talking quietly to her. Inny fell asleep in my arms within minutes of rocking him. Vinny continued very busily playing in and out of Will's legs, grabbing different toys, including a dirty chunk of foam that he wiped all over Wills' face. Joy sat quietly on Beauty's lap, looking too serious for a 5 year old. Baby Mary joyfully and gleefully crawled around the floor and was passed from person to person. Will was asked to pray. Just as Will began praying, baby Mary explosively soiled herself and the floor. After Will prayed, we sat. Sylvie continued to speak softly to Ruby, who looked very tired. I sat and watched Joy. She is 5 but appears to be about 2. Her hair is reddish and very thin. She sat on Beauty's lap and began combing through her own hair with a pink velcro curler. When I thought of her and the boy sleeping on my lap, I wept. How many times does Inny get to feel the safety and security of being rocked in someone's arms? What has being abandoned and rejected twice done to little Joy? As I stared at this clearly malnourished diamond, for the first time in my life I desperately wanted to find a way to take her home.

It was time for the children to go to the feeding point to get their only meal each day. Lea was attending the community school so got herself bathed and ready. Joy, too, bathed herself to get ready for the feeding point. We carried the children on our backs the entire way. Joy got her meal first. I sat with her as she ate. Still feeling heavy in my heart and tearful, Reuben (the coordinator) arrived back from his home visits. As soon as Joy saw him, she completely lost her mind. She called out to him, “Pastor!” He ran to her and gave her a high-five. I lost it again. She has been rejected twice, but has been accepted and is deeply loved by Reuben, Beauty, Sylvie, and many other men and women of God in Mulenga. And I know Joy knows it. I can see it in her face when she sees Reuben. I can hear it in her voice when she calls out for him.

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families ... “Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the Lord. “ I will protect them from those who malign them.”

And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay; purified seven times.

Psalm 68:5-6; Psalm 12:5-6

 Joy and Kristal at the feeding point.