This is us, this is you.

We get a lot of questions, what is the skete, what is it about.  I always struggle for words.  My daily prayer is "Lord, let my words be yours, not mine".   God answered the question of the skete for me, perfectly.  I cannot think of a better Scripture or a better Translation than what is said via The Message:  It explains the Skete, it explains the struggle, it explains what we all endure in this troubled world.

2 Corinthians 4:1-18   --The Message (MSG)

Trial and Torture
4 1-2 Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.

3-4 If our Message is obscure to anyone, it’s not because we’re holding back in any way. No, it’s because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won’t have to bother believing a Truth they can’t see. They’re stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get.

5-6 Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.

7-12 If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!

13-15 We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

16-18 So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

Rest in Peace, Little Baby Girl Bangura

I cannot even begin to relate to you the extreme heartache that I feel for this family and for all the families who have been dealt this horrific blow during a time that should be filled with joy. I have wiped away tears all day.

The news of this baby girl's death received this morning was tough enough to deal with. The fact that it shouldn't have happened makes it even harder to take.

Ill equipped medical facilities, unskilled staff, corruption with pure and simple greed, stole this child's life away. Kadiatu has been in and out of "so called" hospitals during her labor. As she struggled in the pain of labor, her husband was kept away from her side, told that "it was all alright" and repeatedly asked for fees. Even today as he came to collect his child's lifeless body for burial, he was asked for "dismissal fees".

A timely c-section would have prevented this tragedy, but Kadiatu was never given this opportunity to have one. She is poor, she didn't have the ability to pay for such a "luxury" as a c-section. Salu, her husband, is a good man, hard working and caring, he trusted that those who professed to be doctors and nurses knew what was best for his wife and child. They may have known, but I don't believe they acted in the best interests of their patients in this particular case.

As Salu, with James and Kadijah came to collect the child's body this morning, the medical staff was absent from the facility, they had fled.

Salu was trusting the nurse to tell him the truth about his wife, he is kind, gentle and simple man. It is not within him to comprehend that someone would not care properly for his wife and child, especially when he paid fees. Going to the hospital is not a usual thing for Salu, there has never been money enough and since he was able to bring his wife to a hospital, he simply thought she was in the best care. They kept telling him the delayed delivery was "okay, everything was fine" when in fact the child was in great danger. They had to have known this, but they didn't act. Kadiatu began labor when I was still in Freetown...3 weeks ago...and the birth happens today!!!!!

By the time, James and Kadijah were able to step in, it was too late. James sent me a picture of the little infant girl. She was perfectly developed, looked to be a very healthy child, especially for Sierra Leone. Her head was damaged from trying to be born, her arms broken. Such a tragedy.

This is why Nazareth House Apostolate is in Sierra Leone. These innocent people have no chance but from organizations such as NHA. The government is recovering and rebuilding itself, it has an incredible amount on its plate. The people are so desperate that they will do anything, even allow a child to die in the womb, to get a chance at a bit of money to survive on. Need can breed greed.

And here, once again we are witnessing a preventable tragedy come to fruition... and once again, I am seeing Salu tenderly carry another daughter to the graveyard...in a cardboard box because he couldn't afford a coffin. The grave worker tenderly takes the lifeless body and gently places her in the ground. Salu prays with the Inman at the grave site that houses both Isha and now her baby sister. Again, I see James at Salu's side, standing over a child's grave together.

Again, my heart breaks.

And I know it will break many times over in the future. Sometimes all you can do is bear witness in your heart and to others....its that "at the foot of the Cross" thing...where Blessed Mary watched without being able to do anything for her Son.

For every heartbreaking events such as this, there is much more that we can do, if we have the compassion, if we have the love, and if we have the guts. Please continue to support the work of Nazareth House. If at all possible to pledge a monthly donation so that we are able to prepare a budget - so that we know each month what needs we can fulfill, it would be so helpful. Nazareth House Apostolate relies completely on God as He expresses Himself through your prayer, compassion and generosity. Please help us Feed Jesus in the Hungry, Clothe Him in the naked, Visit Him in the sick.... - Matthew 25:35.