I'm sure that some might wonder what the whole "Alive By His Mercy" is all about...
On January 18th 2006, God performed a miracle. Late on the warm night in Uganda, a story unfolded that's not so strange to culture and customs in that small country in East Africa. Yet this one particular night, and all so familiar story would change the course of so many lives. And even though I was on the other side of the world, finishing up my last semester of high school, I would later find out that somewhere across the globe, God was preparing something amazing...
A mother was just about to give birth to a baby. Though only she and God know the circumstances, it is only safe to assume that this mother was young & had been raped. This is a common case in Uganda, and the saddest part about it is not only that the woman becomes pregnant, but that she is usually also left with a death sentence on her life; AIDS. So instead of this baby being a blessing, this tiny miracle of God was a burden. A burden this mother had no intention on trying to make the best of. But what else could she do? She herself wasn't going to survive, the #1 killer of people in her country was already overtaking her body...
So late that night, the mother gave birth. A beautiful baby girl entered this world with no chance of survival. With no one to protect her, no one to speak for her, this baby girl was helpless. Her only hope was her mother, but instead the mother looked at this baby with disgust and did the unthinkable. With a razor in hand, the mother took her child, slashing her small throat twice then stabbing her in the arm. "Surely this baby will no longer be a burden to me," the mother thought at she threw her baby into deep waters of the closest swamp that would surely consume the small helpless creature assuring her of never being a part of that woman's life ever again. But the baby landed in the shallowest part of the swamp, crying out for something. She knew nothing about love yet, she knew nothing about grace, nothing about mercy, yet she cried. But cried for what? This is how I know God is real. Even though this baby knew no love or affection, she cried. She cried because God's love is with us from the moment we are put on earth, even before we are even created, God loves us. This baby already knew love because God FIRST loved her...
As this tiny being cried out, bloody, muddy and helpless, an old man happened to walk by on that late night. He picked up the filthy baby, covered in not only the blood of birth, but her own new blood & knew he had to do something. He took the small child to the closest police station and dropped her off. But for this man even do that, which would seem so practical here, is amazing. In a country where AIDS is nobodies friend, blood is every ones worst enemy. So God moved through this man, carrying a child covered in blood to do only what God would have done. Officer Susan was on duty that night at the police station and quickly took the baby from his arms. She bathed her, fed her, dressed her wounds & took care of this child as if she was her own. She took the baby to the hospital in hopes that something could be done. As with every case, an HIV test was administered to the tiny baby. It came back positive. Officer Susan knew this baby wouldn't last for the night, so all she could do was pray...
The next morning, Deidrah at Answering for the Children Children's home in Jinja was called. Officer Susan explained the situation and asked if there was anything Deidrah could do to help this small child who miraculously lasted through the night. She was brought to the home that day and now, 4 1/2 years later, that baby is still there. Her name is Jehiah, which means "Alive By The Mercy of God." There would be no better name to suit her. Though Deidrah prepared herself for the worst, Jehiah held strong and fought back.
Not even 2 years later our lives collided. I had taken the semester off after my freshman year of college to find what exactly it was God wanted me to be doing with my life. His sense of humor is crazy sometimes because of giving me normal signs like most people, He sent me to Africa. Uganda to be exact. If you don't know anything about Uganda, Google it. It's not considered the happiest place in the world. (Invisible Children) But somehow I ended up there, in the same small orphanage that little baby girl found herself in. And it was there that a part of me was healed. A certain hole in my heart was sealed that had been torn open just over a year before...
On January 18th 2006, God performed a miracle. Late on the warm night in Uganda, a story unfolded that's not so strange to culture and customs in that small country in East Africa. Yet this one particular night, and all so familiar story would change the course of so many lives. And even though I was on the other side of the world, finishing up my last semester of high school, I would later find out that somewhere across the globe, God was preparing something amazing...
A mother was just about to give birth to a baby. Though only she and God know the circumstances, it is only safe to assume that this mother was young & had been raped. This is a common case in Uganda, and the saddest part about it is not only that the woman becomes pregnant, but that she is usually also left with a death sentence on her life; AIDS. So instead of this baby being a blessing, this tiny miracle of God was a burden. A burden this mother had no intention on trying to make the best of. But what else could she do? She herself wasn't going to survive, the #1 killer of people in her country was already overtaking her body...
So late that night, the mother gave birth. A beautiful baby girl entered this world with no chance of survival. With no one to protect her, no one to speak for her, this baby girl was helpless. Her only hope was her mother, but instead the mother looked at this baby with disgust and did the unthinkable. With a razor in hand, the mother took her child, slashing her small throat twice then stabbing her in the arm. "Surely this baby will no longer be a burden to me," the mother thought at she threw her baby into deep waters of the closest swamp that would surely consume the small helpless creature assuring her of never being a part of that woman's life ever again. But the baby landed in the shallowest part of the swamp, crying out for something. She knew nothing about love yet, she knew nothing about grace, nothing about mercy, yet she cried. But cried for what? This is how I know God is real. Even though this baby knew no love or affection, she cried. She cried because God's love is with us from the moment we are put on earth, even before we are even created, God loves us. This baby already knew love because God FIRST loved her...
As this tiny being cried out, bloody, muddy and helpless, an old man happened to walk by on that late night. He picked up the filthy baby, covered in not only the blood of birth, but her own new blood & knew he had to do something. He took the small child to the closest police station and dropped her off. But for this man even do that, which would seem so practical here, is amazing. In a country where AIDS is nobodies friend, blood is every ones worst enemy. So God moved through this man, carrying a child covered in blood to do only what God would have done. Officer Susan was on duty that night at the police station and quickly took the baby from his arms. She bathed her, fed her, dressed her wounds & took care of this child as if she was her own. She took the baby to the hospital in hopes that something could be done. As with every case, an HIV test was administered to the tiny baby. It came back positive. Officer Susan knew this baby wouldn't last for the night, so all she could do was pray...
The next morning, Deidrah at Answering for the Children Children's home in Jinja was called. Officer Susan explained the situation and asked if there was anything Deidrah could do to help this small child who miraculously lasted through the night. She was brought to the home that day and now, 4 1/2 years later, that baby is still there. Her name is Jehiah, which means "Alive By The Mercy of God." There would be no better name to suit her. Though Deidrah prepared herself for the worst, Jehiah held strong and fought back.
Not even 2 years later our lives collided. I had taken the semester off after my freshman year of college to find what exactly it was God wanted me to be doing with my life. His sense of humor is crazy sometimes because of giving me normal signs like most people, He sent me to Africa. Uganda to be exact. If you don't know anything about Uganda, Google it. It's not considered the happiest place in the world. (Invisible Children) But somehow I ended up there, in the same small orphanage that little baby girl found herself in. And it was there that a part of me was healed. A certain hole in my heart was sealed that had been torn open just over a year before...
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| Jehiah, 2013 |
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