Indianapolis, Indiana … “Cold-chills rushes over me as his name is read aloud,” Suzi remembers. The time was 2002 and Malawi was experiencing the worst famine in 50 years.
“That cold feeling was not there because of the cold morning air. In fact, it had nothing to do with the weather. It had everything to do with this little boy, and whose child he was.
We had come to Mponela early in the morning to distribute food and clothing to over 5,000 orphans living in that area. The crowd gathered. There were so many of them. Yet each one was well behaved. A brief speech was delivered to the gathered crowd, and then they started reading the names. As their name was called, each child came forward for their food ration. The names droned on and on, and each was handed food.
As the day progressed, we felt pretty good with what we were experiencing. In a short time, we would return to the states and report the success of the time here. Then the name, Chifuniro Kasalika. Wait! Stop! I know that name. This is not a faceless name, but a baby I held in my arms and delighted in watching him learn to walk, run and play. The pain struck me as I faced a real person, a real child, one that had been like a son to me. The Malawians called me “Kasalika’s daughter”, and in their culture, this child and I would have a family link
The tears began to run down my face, as I realized I have just given him so little, just because I handed him this bag of food. His life was empty. He was so alone. I watched this little boy walk back to his place in the mass of children.”
Jump Forward to Today
“That was over 20 years ago and today Chifuniro is grown up. In fact, he has completed a college education, and can you believe it, he is a volunteer with Action for Progress? Currently, Griven, as he is known today, is distributing food to orphans, just as was done for him a long, long time ago. In fact, in the coming weeks and months you will see his stories, pictures, and reports on the Malawi Project web site as he gives back what was once given to him.”
One never knows what will come from a good deed done. Food and clothing for an orphan, kindness to an aging widow, eyeglasses to a person who can hardly see, a mobility unit to someone who cannot walk, surgical supplies to save a life, a textbook to a student in school, burn ointment for a critically burned child, a dressing for an infected wound, and the list goes on and on.
One never knows what will grow from such simple acts. Jesus was not kidding when He explained how kindness, and help in time of need, will grow over and over and over.