I AM ORPHANED?

“Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice.”

-Nelson Mandela

I AM ORPHANED–the idea came to me as I reevaluated my life after the first visit in Malawi. I realized when that I was not the only one looking into the face of an orphan; but they were looking back at one too. I saw that I had become an orphan from the basics of simply sharing life , from community, from the giving I so longed to bestow. I realized that between the computer screen, self-imposed pressures, work days, the overflowing calendar pages and my ever present selfish drive that I had lost something. God is constantly reminding me that life isn’t meant to be my own, but it is supposed to be one to share, to give away and serve with. I fail everyday, but God has and is still using Malawi and the women and children there as a wake up call for my days.  I believe that God created us to give and be given in the holding of hands, in the sharing of bread, in the good, the bad and anything that may fall in the middle. The wonderful thing we can all fit at God’s table for din–whether you are a young child who has lost parents in Africa or a girl who has lost the meaning sharing. You can pass things to me that I can’t reach and I can heap on a big spoonful of good stuff on your dish from my side of the table. We can enjoy the simplicity of God’s goodness and begin to understand what it means to be filled. God can look over at us and we can smile, and oh, how we will smile.

Always for Africa,
Gabe Romano
Isaiah 58