Ashes Into Beauty

I came across this picture today when reading the Winter 2009 installment of Compassion Magazine. Its sadness and beauty struck me deeply. How can these kids who are standing in the middle of a slum be laughing and happy? How can they muster a smile on their face surrounded in filth and stench of trash, disease and feces?

The chasm between poverty-abuse-death and life-peace-hope is so wide. I struggle to understand how a child who has experienced this world’s deep injustices and foulness of life can rise above and be hopeful, healthy and alive inside. I do believe that God can heal a person holistically: physically, mentally, and spiritually. I do not discount that but the answer isn’t so “pat”. Here’s where I get stuck: An American child identified as being neglected and/or abused has a plethora of mental health resources available to them. Our system is not perfect and vastly needs improvement but there are tools in place to help a child move from brokenness to healthiness. We are fortunate to live in a country that supports mental health yet many of these American kids who get “help” remain damaged and continue the destructive cycle into adulthood. Even my own life experience (which cannot even come close to the suffering I mentioned above) has led me to seek counseling for healing of my whole self…which has taken years. In a third world country where poverty often leads to violence against children, and mental health is the lowest of priorities, how can complete healing take place?

"Poverty and abuse speak the same message into the heart of a child: Nobody cares. You don’t matter. Nobody is coming to your rescue. Give up" (Compassion Magazine, Winter 2009). The kids at Hope Community Centre in Kenya used to receive messages like this everyday…for years and years. Their lives have seen hunger, disease, violence, rape, and murder. These kids were traumatized. Nobody cared…until they were rescued. But they don’t just “get over it” overnight. There are no quick fixes to healing a physically or sexually abused child’s spirit. It seems that some Christians think, “Show them Jesus and everything will be fine.” Yes, show them the hope and love of Jesus but it doesn’t mean that they are instantly healed from years of pain. The road to recovery is long. For the last couple of weeks the question on my mind has been: In the Kenyan orphanages I'll be visiting, what are they doing to help these kids rise from the ashes physically, mentally and spiritually? I don't know the answer yet.

Even though I can’t wrap my head around all this, something inside me feels called to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and defend the rights of the poor and needy. I am one person but one more is better than no more. I am driven by my hope that someday God will turn their ashes into beauty.

“God has sent me to comfort those who mourn…He sent me to give them flowers in place of their sorrow, olive oil in place of tears, and joyous praise in place of broken hearts. They will be called ‘Trees of Justice’ planted by God to honor his name.” (Isaiah 61:2-3)

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