"you white people, you don't have to worry."

Things are going pretty well here at Door of Hope. Aside from everyone screaming today in unison from approximately 7:00 AM until 10:00 AM, it's been a good day. ;) Right now it is 1:27 PM my time, and I am taking my much-needed lunch break haha.

When I work here, I always work with Auntie Mary. She is an awesome Congolese woman living in South Africa with her husband. I love working with her because she is FULL of joy, no matter how many kids are screaming at the moment. I love getting to talk to her about her life.

Yesterday I was able to talk with her for a while about what she was praying about at the moment. I was so challenged. I have noticed that every spare moment she gets, whether that be waiting for lunch to cook, her break time, the kids' nap time, or whatever, she always goes into the sick baby's room (who is still in the hospital, by the way, but is doing much better) and prays and reads her Bible. I mean, every spare second this woman is praying! I asked her yesterday what she prayed about all the time, and she said that I might not understand, but she would tell me.

She said that as a black person, she has to pray all the time against curses on her life. It is apparently very common once someone leaves the village or gets married that there is a family member who was offended in the process. That family member then proceeds to declare curses on that person's head, asking for them not to have children or to be sick or not to be happy. Auntie Mary told me this whole crazy story that once she was asked to be married, she got this disease on her face, all these huge dark black spots all over her face. She got this disease the day after she was asked to be married. She is convinced that this is because someone was offended and was praying for her to be cursed.

Auntie Mary kept telling me how important it is for her to pray and pray for her and her husband, because if she forgets, something always happens. She said that as a white person, I don't have to worry about magic and mysticism, but that as a black person from the Congo, she really has to pray against it. I told her that something I'm learning is the power of the declaration. As Christians, the Bible says that we have Christ in us. Because of that, we have Jesus' power in our spoken word, so that when we declare something about His Kingdom down here on earth, the Bible says that it WILL happen. In the Lord's Prayer, it says, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Jesus modeled for us here that if we see something here on earth that is not a part of His heavenly Kingdom, we have the authority to pray against that and literally pray for His Kingdom to be manifested here on earth in that situation. (By the way, I didn't think all of this stuff up on my own. I am learning so much about this from the book When Heaven Invades Earth,by Bill Johnson. Go pick up a copy-it's awesome!!)

Please join me in prayer for Auntie Mary and her family. She is in the process of writing me a list of more specific prayer requests. If you'd like a copy, please let me know.

Something else that has changed in Starfish is the addition of a new member! We have a new 18-month old girl who is HIV positive. She arrived yesterday and is very, very malnourished. I have never seen a child like this in all my life except for in those commercials you see about adopting African children on TV. I mean, skin and bones, hair like straw, huge tummy...my heart is just torn for her! I've been tending to her all day. She smiled today at me, and I got so excited!!! In her medical records, it said that she had never smiled, so I think it might be a big deal that she did so today. I held her for a long time today, and she FINALLY accepted some food and a little liquid. I was really excited as she ate, but my hopes for her eating anything this morning were a little crushed as I rubbed her back while she vomited everything back up. Please pray for her. She is so beautiful and curious, and I just want her to get well! Because she is HIV positive, she might have to go to another home, but I'll keep you posted.

She spent most of the morning on my back, African papoose style. All you mothers out there--I HAVE to teach you how to do this. It is awesome! A child can be on your back while you do whatever you have to do around the house! She was crying and crying, but as soon as I put her on my back in the papoose, she stopped crying and fell asleep. Apparently, this is what happens to most children in this magical papoose. The best part is-you don't have to buy a special piece of cloth! Just use a bath towel! I am seriously doing this once I have kids-it is so sweet!

I'll update again soon. I haven't forgotten that I need to tell you about Nelson Mandela's house and Soweto!

All to Him,
Emily