By Kathy Davis | Holistic Care Lead
One of the primary ways that World Orphans cares for the plight of the widow and orphan is through our Church-to-Church partnerships.
River Oaks Community Church in Tennessee just returned from Nairobi, Kenya having spent 9 days serving alongside our church partner, Fountain of Hope. One of the most meaningful ways that we participate together during our trips is to help host and sponsor a 2-day free medical camp for the surrounding slum areas. This year we prayed for and treated over 400 people.
When Fountain of Hope opens their gates to the slum community for medical care, they are also opening the gateway to hearts that are desperate and longing for hope. Many are crushed under the yoke of oppression and poverty, struggling to work out how they might survive another day.
This time last year we prayed for a young woman named Jesente. I remember her well. She brought several small children with her and came in deeply discouraged. Her circumstances had resulted in a downward spiral where she was ready to end her life. She was literally about to collapse under the yoke of oppression and potential suicide. This memory stands out to me because she kept dragging her finger across her throat, saying “I’m done; I just want to die”.
We prayed for her, treated her medical condition and I noticed that she continued to stay around as we ministered to others. She asked me to take her picture and her beautiful face was etched on my heart as I returned home. I would not know what her future held, but I was assured of the greatness and mercy of God to bring help and hope to this dear young woman.
Half way through the first day of medical camp this year, Jesente returned through the gates of Fountain of Hope. She recognized me from last year, ran across the room, threw her arms around my neck, and exclaimed ‘I’m alive, I’m alive; because of your prayers for me last year, I’m alive’!!! We sat down with her and inquired about how she was doing.
Although her circumstances still remain difficult, this would be the year that she would believe and surrender her heart to Jesus Christ, receiving His free gift of salvation. God’s mercy and kindness led Jesente back to Fountain of Hope’s medical camp, where this time, she would find eternal healing for her soul through the finished work of Jesus Christ.
What an inexpressible joy to partner with Fountain of Hope and participate alongside the meaningful ways that they are living out the Gospel of Christ and serving the community in their deepest places of need.
2 Cor. 1:8-11
“For we do not want you to become ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we have experienced. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”