Chicken and Gravy Update

I wrote the following about a year and a half ago.  I thought it appropriate to repost this but with an update at the end.  For this update, I am very thankful.My children are adults now and live in their own homes.  Whenever possible I love to get my family over to my house for Sunday Lunch.  One Sunday afternoon my daughter, Sam, was asked to thank the Lord for our meal.  “Thank you for roast chicken and gravy, Amen” she said.  It was not quite the traditional prayer so we giggled but all said a hearty AMEN.I remembered this little incident this week while I was walking through Madutle village.  This is a new village to me.  Orchard: Africa has just recently started to serve here.It is July – midwinter in South Africa.  A fierce cold has turned the landscape a dull, dry dusky color.  As I stood in the village an icy wind sliced through the layers of my clothing and my feet refused to warm up.  I looked around me and I noticed how many children were scantily dressed, some with bare feet.  My heart choked up.  I reminded myself that we have only just started our work here and that soon we will identify who needs warm clothes and provide as best we can.  This reasoning does not really ease the hurt I feel that children should go cold … and hungry … and parentless.It was in this stark, cold village that I remembered my daughter’s prayer – oh, how we should truly and sincerely be grateful for roast chicken and gravy.I have decided to make a list of the things for which I am truly grateful:

• For my shoes – more than one pair.
• For my warm winter coat – again, more than one.
• For the ability to say “I wonder what I’ll make for supper tonight?”
• For the duvet on my bed … in fact, for my bed.
• For my children Sam and Dustin and for my daughter-in-law Hallie.
• For the fact that my children have parents who are alive.

This is a short list – a list that many of the children in Madutle village cannot make.  They don’t have shoes or coats or beds or parents.Today I am sad that I live in a world where this is true.  Today I am honestly grateful for the huge big blessings in my life like roast chicken and gravy.A year and some months have gone by since I wrote this post and Orchard: Africa has done good work in Madutle.  Here is a new list of things for which I am thankful.

• Every child in the village has shoes, warm clothes and school uniforms.
• 135,989 cooked meals have been provided to orphaned and vulnerable children.
• 3,075 teenagers in high schools near the village have attended an AIDS prevention course.
• 2,440 home visits have been made by Orchard: Africa care givers to the sick and dying.
• A church has been established and is a vibrant part of this village.
• A pre-school has been started in the village.
• An after-school learning center has been established with 23,010 visits made by children to this center.
• The sound of children's laughter can be heard all over the village.

Happy Thanksgiving.