while performing at an orphanage in Ethiopia as part of a USNavy Band, I had a young girl come up to me and wrap her arms around my leg. She was covered in feces and urine, and her dress was tattered. When we had finished performing, we were invited inside the facility for a reception. I decided to bring the little girl with me. As I picked her up I noticed half her face was eaten away and I could see most of her little teeth through the side of her face. Inside, we were given punch and little wafer type cookies both which I gave to the young girl. She poured the drink in the side of her face, and the cookies she put in her dress. At that point one of the staff at the facility came over, picket her up, shock her til the cookies fell out and physically threw her out the door. I was livid and asked why in the world he would do that? His response was that she would have been injured or even killed by the other children to get the cookies had she been allowed to go outside with them. What I learned was that life is not fare. We are here for a brief moment in time ad while we are here it is most important that we care for the children of the world. It is our job to love and nuture them all. What we can learn from them is purity of heart.they are born pure, it is we who cause them to lose that gift from God. Blessed are the pure at heart, for they shall see God!
Posted by Jon MATTISON
April 26, 2012
