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Broken Whispers
7/16/09
We see a lot of the broken. The broke-down people in their broke-down houses, where tears fall dry like dust – no mother, no father, no money; carrying everything they own in a garbage bag. We watch mother and daughter collect trash on Sunday morning to sort and sell to make a few bills. What did I do with my mother on Sunday mornings?
We see injustice in the lack of education. These kids – Kennedy, Heaven and Marie Susa – are so talented each in their own way. But there aren't enough people willing to tell them how much they could accomplish. They are hidden from resources that could easily help them become doctors, artists, performers and presidents.
I hear the broken whispers of Dibora in the night. Five of us share the same bed, three asleep. Seven-year-old Dibora turns to me, "Where is your brother?"
I say, "Far far away."
She says, "Did someone kill him?"
My heart clenches and I say, "No, he is in America."
She asks, "Are you praying?"
I say, "Yes."
She asks, "Are you praying for your family to come join you in Cairo? I'm praying for my brother and father to come be with me in Cairo."
We see the scars – on Ibrahim's arm, on Deng's nose. The scars of the heart: fear and bitterness between ethnic groups. The tears Natu cries everytime Marsha and I leave the house. These tears fall because this child knows well the feeling of separatation. The stories behind the scars aren't always spoken, but here reside the broken in the eye of the sun.
We see the broken and it is heavy. But we also see the beautiful.
Beauty in the way Salam and Aisha take care of one another – this Pentecostal woman and Muslim woman who formerly despised Christians. But Salam loved Aisha with what little possessions she had and now they are like sisters. Salam says she preaches the gospel not by words, but by her actions.
Beauty in the college students who gather at night to learn English. They tell me how they will use their degrees in medicine, economics, law and engineering to make things better in Sudan.
Beauty in the words of Daniel, a founder of "Found," the grade school where we work in the mornings. Daniel who is Sudanese and has been living in Cairo for ten years, does not harbor resentment against the Egyptians for the living situation of the refugees. He says, "If you hate them, they will hate you. But if you love them, they will love you back."
Beauty in the children. There is a boy who loves music. Melissa teaches him to play the ukulele with his scarred and melted fingers. In music class, Ale and Marshae lead the kids in song. They sing "I am a blessed child. I am a blessed child. Jesus made me a blessed child. I am a blessed child." Their pure-hearted voices fill every classroom of the school.
"The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love." Psalms 33:5
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