Limbani Jeremiah

I want to share with you a really amazing boy, Limbani Jeremiah! He's a part of the Esther's House Orphanage non-residential orphan program.

Limbani is 12 years old and he's currently in grade 6 at Madzanje Primary School. He lost both his mother and father before the age of 7, and is now living with his grandma and his older sister Tracy, who is also in the non-residential program, in the local village of Mkwezalamba. He's a very talented artist (I got to see this first hand when he helped me decorate a poster!) and he loves to play soccer. He told me that when he grows up he wants to be a policeman! He has this smile that just lights up his entire face when you talk to him, and he always has such a gentle demeanor. Bruce says that he's one of the only children at Esther's House that gets along with absolutely everyone.

I'm bringing all of this up because of something that happened last week that has really been weighing on my mind. On Tuesday we began to give the orphans the letters that their sponsors had written them. They were so excited! They were huddled in groups, reading their letters to each other, and the older children were helping the younger ones (who are still learning English) read theirs. Some of the envelopes had pictures of the sponsor's family or little presents like stickers and small notebooks which they loved!

What bothered me was that there were a lot of children that didn't have sponsors. It was really heartbreaking when a few of the kids came up to me asking where theirs was, and I had to tell them that there wasn't anything for them.

Before I came to Malawi, hearing the phrase "sponsoring a child" brought up images of late night infomercials where they would show a picture of an African child sitting in a pile of mud with dozens of flies buzzing around them. I didn't really believe that I, living 9,000 miles away in a completely different world, could do anything that would impact the lives of these kids.

I have been so fortunate to have a family that is supportive and loving, but that isn't the case with these children. It would really sicken you how nonchalantly a family gave us their orphan last week. There were no goodbyes, no hugs--they pretty much put his change of clothes in a plastic bag and shoved him in our car.

Sponsoring a child means that you donate $40 a month for their school fees, supplies, and the meals that are provided to them at Esther's House. What I didn't understand before now was that sponsoring a child means giving them a type of support that has nothing to do with money.

The children that were given pictures of their sponsors show them to everyone and talk about them as though they are their real family. Knowing that there is someone who personally cares about you and is praying for your well-being every night is something that I think a lot of us take for granted, and it's something that these children definitely don't have enough of.

These children, by any standards, have a difficult life. They live in an area where disease, rape, malnutrition, and death are a part of daily life--I've only been here for 4 weeks and sadly I've already witnessed this. You should never underestimate how impactful it is for them to have people that just simply care about their wellbeing and pray for them.

I wanted to introduce you to Limbani because he's one of the un-sponsored children whom I've had the honor of getting to know over the past couple of weeks! These children are really amazing people--I learn so much just by being around them and spending time with them. If sponsoring Limbani or another orphan from Esther's House is something that you might be interested in (individuals, families, and groups can sponsor a child), you can visit puremission.org!

James 1:27

♥ S