Hair

And Jesus said "let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.Matthew 19:14-15

The Dinka are a very dark skin population and tend to have very sparse facial and body hair. I love working with the little children, watching them as they come into the clinic for visits. I love to look into their eyes as their mother stops and sits down with them. You can see them gazing at me with curiosity. I tried to imagine what is going through their minds. Often as the younger children sit in the mother's lap, they will reach out and stroke the hair on my forearm - you can just see the little wheels turning inside his mind: "Mom, not only is this guy white; he's got fur." I gaze at these beautiful children, frequently deeply saddened. I realize that for the lack of a simple mosquito net, they may well contract malaria and die. For lack of a simple immunization, they may contract polio or pertusis and die from a disease which is easily preventable. For lack of clean water, they can get diarrhea and dehydration and die. But even more importantly than their physical health is the fact that these children may die before knowing about Christ. They are so young, beautiful and innocent. My heart just breaks when I think about their future. But I do have hope: hope that it can be different, hope that through groups like CEF and other NGO's working in Sudan, Chad, and in other countries we can make an impact - one life at a time and provide clean water, medication, immunizations, mosquito nets, and most importantly, the story of Jesus Christ.

Mike McMahon

Children are a gift from God, they are his reward. Psalm 127:3

Prayer Power

Lord, be with the children all over the world. Draw them close to you, protect them, put a burden on our hearts to do all that we can to reach out and help them. In Christ's name, amen.