Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed-and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors-and they have no comforter. And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.
(Ecclesiastes 4:1-3)
Dear Friends of the Poor,
It's only May but it's already been a hard year for the WMF community-and an even harder year for childhood.
In January, one of the street kids the WMF staff work with in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was shot in the back by the police. He was 11 years old. He was on his way home from the market, bringing bread back for his mother, when he was killed.
In February, some of the WMF Bolivia team were in La Paz late one night working with a street children's ministry when a fight broke out. One of the street boy's throat was slit open. The WMF staff and Servant Team members stood beside him as he gasped for breath and bled to death in the plaza.
In March, to keep warm, one of the boys on the streets in Galati, Romania was building a fire in the sewer. The fire got out of control and the boy was badly burned. A few days later he died alone in a local hospital.
In April, a sweet 4 year old girl in the care of Samanthana Illam (one of the WMF children's homes in Madras, India) couldn't fight her sickness any longer. Born with profound physical and mental disabilities, she added so much life to our community. Suspected to have been HIV+, she died from congenital heart disease.
Each one of these precious children bore the potential to establish a godly legacy-to become the matriarch or patriarch of a righteous generation.
Each one of these children had dreams, hopes, and desired to live a “normal” life.
Each one of the children are now laid to rest in a grave that no one can find.
We grieve their unjust deaths as we know that Christ grieves them. We rest in the hopes that He cradles these little ones in His loving arms and gives them the chance to live the childhood that this world stole from them.
Even today more graves are dug and more lives are taken unjustly. May the reality of these tragedies move us to a compassionate response that God would be able to use our willingness and availability to bring an end to the suffering.
For the Victims,
Chris Heuertz
My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you.
(Psalm 42:3-7a)