Don't Complain

I count my family and friends among my greatest blessings. This past weekend provided a powerful reminder of the love borne from the intimacy of family and the love that transcends culture, distance and infrequent visit. We were truly blessed to host Father Robert and his wife Mariam who are visiting the States from Tanzania. We spent the weekend eating (a lot), telling stories, taking hayrides, roasting marshmallows, picking pumpkins…

The kids enjoyed the near singular focus on having fun and especially Robert’s mesmerizing stories of encounters with giant snakes, lions and elephants. I doubt I will forget the picture of Robert sitting on the floor and the face of the kids as he weaved the story of starting an elephant stampede while riding his bicycle… lesson: don’t ring a bell to move an elephant.

Robert’s visit has a very serious nature. Quite frankly, it makes the current “crisis” in the United States look more like an “event” or maybe a “mild debacle”. The AIDs epidemic in Tanzania has claimed over one-third of the population and has created 1,500,000 orphans. The numbers and the need are staggering.

Robert and Mariam, in their love for God, have great compassion on the orphans of Tanzania. They began by bringing in 8 orphans to their home in 1996 and now run an orphanage with 120 children and an additional 80 for whom they care. Life is not easy in the orphanage with only six helpers, no electricity, and clean water two miles away.

They have a vision of hope. Real hope in the midst of real suffering. A hope that comes from the simple gratitude for food, clothing and shelter… of being educated to serve community, country and God… and being adopted into a family temporal and eternal.

Robert’s message on Sunday was simple: don’t complain. God provides, God sustains, God blesses.

This week, I have complained about bad weather, late flights, inadequate hotel accommodations, late dinners, too much work, other people, sore muscles, … shall I go on?

I hear Robert’s deep voice as he surveys my family… “Mark, you are truly blessed.” I am.

And… You are.

The needs of the orphanage are simple: electricity and water. To connect to the “grid” is costly, about $25,000. I can choose to hide behind economic certainty, too many bills, too much need. Or I can choose to give out of a multitude of blessing. We will do the latter and have pledged $1,000 to Good Samaritan Orphanage.

If you feel compelled to help, please contact me and I will provide the details.

You can also visit the Good Samaritan Orphanage website and donate there.

http://www.gsotanzania.org/index.html