are already supporting several orphans, but are currently working to
build an actual dormitory and house so they can have a stable place for
them to live. To do that, they raise and sell chickens in their
backyard. They are not the only ones. In fact, we have so many people
raising and selling chickens for various charitable causes around the
mission station that at one point it became quite tricky for me to
navigate the social circle of the 'chiken corner' when I was deciding
from which of my neighbors I would buy my next chicken.
That's pretty typical of my experience of African generosity. My host
family where I learned Kikaonde for 2 weeks not only farmed three entire
fields for their family, but also cultivated an additional 2 fields for
the support of orphans in the community. At our church, we all go and
hoe the hospital field so we will have maize to sell or give to hungry
people who come to the service. The Nurses Christian Fellowship
sponsors work days to buy clothes for their trips to the local prison.
I don't know many people at home who are volunteering to work an extra
job and donate the entire proceeds of that job to their local charity.
If they are out there, I'm certainly not one of them. I'm humbled by
how pale and flabby my giving is in comparison to that kind of 'sweat'
giving that so many people do here. Let me tell you, it's not easy to
hoe one extra field, much less two for the support of people around
you. That kind of exercise of love builds a strong Christian body.
I have benefited so much from being able to learn from people like the
Mendas and my neighbors. It also makes me want to help in whatever ways
that I can -- contribute some clothes to a yard sale, buy an extra
chicken here or there (at one point I was up to seven in my freezer --
not an easy fit in my rattling old fridge). Hopefully my love has
gotten stronger as well for the chance to work alongside people like them.
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