Today is the Day of the African Child. Not a well known day for most, but an important day for the children of Africa who this day celebrates and remembers.
The African child is a resilient one, as many on the African continent must gather up great energy each day just to survive. The constant onslaught of risks and dangers that they face is more than many of us can imagine and more than any child should bear. HIV, AIDS, malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition…..just a few of the barriers that these children must overcome to live healthy and fulfilling lives.
After having spent a good deal of time living and traveling to Africa, I have been amazed and incredibly blessed by being around these children. They have taught me more than any textbook could, and have given me strength when I needed it most.
Here’s to the millions of children in Africa that could use our prayers and support as they continue to face the harshest of environments.
Let’s commit to remembering them and praying for the continued success of this ministry that seeks to serve them and bring them out of their poverty.
5 Comments |Add a comment
@Vicki Leavy – Vicki, I have just been to your blog and am enjoying is so much. I have three children in Ethiopia so I am very eager to read about your visit there. Rest up and then please share your trip with all of us. Thank you!
Everyday should be a celebration for children. They are tomorrow’s church, parents and community leaders. Children in poverty, many of which are in Africa, are growing up in what we in the developed world would consider unimaginable hardships in horrific conditions. I’ve seen them. But, here’s the deal…in the midst of it all…they have joy smeared all over their faces. Kids are optimists by nature. They radiate love…the kind of love that Jesus wants us to have for one another. Gosh, we can learn a lot from children! I will blog more when I have rested from our travels to Ethiopia where we met three children and one LDP student we sponsor through Compassion International. As I crawl into my comfortable bed, home at last after six weeks of travel, I will pray for my beautiful little Belaynesh, as I know she is sleeping on the dirt floor in her family’s tiny mud shanty, and she is immensely grateful for the shelter from rain and heat. The family constructed the small home as the result of a simple family gift we gave many months ago. I will tell this and other stories very soon.
All of my children are in Africa and I can hardly wait to travel to Tanzania next year and meet several of them . It is my privilege to pray for them all and the many more all across Africa awaiting sponsors.
It’s a honor for the whole world to recognise the African child especially the hard ship they go through before clicking the adulthood. May our good God keep the African child strong and with zeal in His word; and in behalf of my fellow African kids, we wanna say THANKS to the friends of Compassion International. Blessings
I’ve never heard of this day before. I can’t even fathom what these children have to experience every day – I know I would break in a secon if I had to live the same life they are.