Meet My Brother

Meet My Brother

Some of you may wonder who is this “brother” that Berta is talking about? Why is she so excited about his visit? Please allow me to take a few minutes of your time and share what is on my heart.

Some basics: {The rough population in Lusaka Zambia is 5 million people, where only 5% of the people are employed. Many orphans live in the streets and have no one to take care of them. There is little food, little shelter and poor water.  They bury approximately 200 people a day due to Malaria, Aids, Starvation and other diseases.}

Bishop Naison Nyonyo lives in Lusaka Zambia with his wife and family (he has 5 children of 7 still living at home).  He is a pastor and district over seer in Lusaka and surrounding areas where he supervises some 98 churches.  This is all done via city transit (which means a glorified mini-van that holds perhaps 18 people PACKED side by side).

At his local church he has approximately 500 people in attendance each Sunday.

They sit on rough made benches and pack as many in as will fit, be that standing or sitting (it is not a large building).

There are 125 orphans that his church feeds daily. Their once a day meal consists mainly of "n'shima” which is made from mealie-meal (mealie-meal is similar to corn meal) this is boiled until it reaches a thick, pasty consistency. “N’shima” is their main food source of nourishment. Sometimes they may also serve “kapenta” which are small whole fish, caught locally (about the size of minnows). Some days they serve “rape” (much like collard greens) along with “n’shima”.  They accomplish this with approximately $50 a month.  Some months the money is short and the children do not eat.

The majority of children have no place to call “home”, nowhere to sleep, no blankets to keep them warm and no shoes on their feet.  Believe it or not it does get cold in Zambia Africa.  Their winter months are during our (USA) summer months.  The temperatures drop into the 40s and stay cold enough during the day to need jackets.

The Zambian government does not offer help as we do in the USA.  They have to pay for their children to go to school, books, uniforms, supplies and PTA (Parent Teacher Association) fees.  If ANY of these are not paid, the child cannot go to school.

MANY young Zambian girls of ages 10 – 12 are sent out by their families to the streets to become prostitutes to bring money home to feed their families.  Often times these girls do not live long due to violence etc.  Soon they mature into young women, get pregnant, contract AIDS, pass the AIDS to their babies and the vicious cycle repeats.

I realize in the BIG picture this is just one place in a 3^rd world country… but it happens to be the place that my heart aches for.  In Bishop Nyonyo’s case he one man trying to make a difference in his community.  Educating and feeding 125 orphans. He is not a rich man, he only has what is given to him.  His children have education only because someone helps to send them to school, he only has food on the table for his family because someone cares to share their blessings with him.  There are times when his family does not eat… he has been blessed to be able to feed his family on a regular basis of at least one meal a day now.  But he has seen years of only feeding his family once a week…yes, I said once a WEEK.

Yes, we have many issues in the USA… we have slums, hungry families, families without jobs, families without homes… we in America should be ashamed of what we have allowed our country to become.  WE have the ability to take care of our own… we have the knowledge, we have the technology and yet in our own country we find similar situations as they do in 3^rd world countries.  We CAN change it.

So this is my brother, no we do not share the same physical gene line, but he is still my brother. He is a humble man, he does not draw attention to himself, he does not seek appreciation, or the clapping of our hands… we just share a common heart… this IS my brother and I’m proud to be his sister!