Dear Friends,
Here is a non-medical miracle from our friend Gary Langness, one of
the influential in BKB. He wrote and
sent the following to his friends and family and he gave me permission to
reprint it here. The point of this isn’t
that I had the privilege to participate.
It is that Mama Chilewa has put in yeoman’s effort for the many orphans
she has helped, with way too little help.
Too few teachers that need to be paid, buildings unoccupied because it
takes increased overhead to use them. It
isn’t so hard to get money for a building (believe it or not), but it is
difficult to get funds for operations, especially since they need to be
ongoing, not a one time donation.
Here is the story from Gary:
We have heard that it is very cold in Minnesota so I thought I would
send you an email so you had something to do other than to wonder when it would
be warm again.
On Monday Carol and I went to the Huruma Centre, the orphanage where
Mama Chilewa is the director. Our purpose was to find out the cost of
providing new school uniforms, sweaters, and shoes for 36 primary school
children that live at the orphanage. Mama was also going to have a list
of the school fees for each child so we could secure the needed money from the
local bank and pay the fees. As we sat down in her office I noticed that
Amy, one of the care givers was hand writing a list and I wondered why it was
not being done on Mama’s computer. About that time Mama said very
quietly, “I am old and so is this computer.” She was trying to print out
the school fee sheet… it was not working… it would have to be done by hand.
As we were leaving Mama looked at Carol and said, “May I ask you
something?” Receiving an affirmative response from Carol she asked about
the possibility of securing a computer from the U.S. The problem with
purchasing a new computer in Tanzania is that you can never be sure that all
the parts are new and that it will work once you get it home. “How much
would it cost?” she asked. I looked at her and realized that everything
about life was hard for Mama. She was dejected and appeared to be tired
of always trying to do something positive for the children but never quite
having what she needed. I told her I did not know how much a computer
would cost but we would check into it. She thanked us and we headed home.
Back at our apartment sit two HP laptop computers. I have this
friend Tom who is the Director of Development at Luther Seminary. A few
years ago, Tom spent several weeks with us here in Iringa. He knows about
the people and the needs. The last two years Tom has purchased two
reconditioned laptops for us to bring over here and use where needed. I
offered to pay, but Tom just smiles and says, “I want to do this.” My
Scandinavian background has me silently protesting thinking I should say I
would be happy to pay for them… instead I say to myself, “Quiet... just accept
the gift… say thank you… let Tom know and experience the joy of giving. “ I
then called Dan McIntyre and asked him if he could equip the computers with
software… “Yes, I be happy to do that!”
On the way home from the Huruma Centre we stopped for lunch.
Once seated, I called Ken Olson, a family doctor from St. James Lutheran Church
in Bursnville. Not only does he know medicine he also knows computers… in
fact he builds them. I asked him if he might have time to go with us to
the Huruma Centre… back to see Mama Chilewa… bring her one of the laptops
sitting in our apartment and hook it all up. He did not say yes… he said,
“I’d love to!” I called Mama and asked if she was still in her office…
she was… I told her we would be there in 15 minutes. Ken, Carol, the laptop
and Gary headed for Huruma. As we walked into her office and she spotted
the laptop she began to smile. Ken sat down and did what computer geeks
do… hooked it all up to the printer… made it all work. Then he invited
Mama to sit next to him as he taught her how to use it… I noticed Ken would
just point to buttons she could push and Mama pushed them… the smile on her
face grew larger… tears welled up in her eyes and I thought there might be a
lump in her throat… and then she said, “This is a miracle.” Is it a miracle I
thought… well not the feeding of 5,000 with a few loaves and bread and two fish
kind of miracle… but to Mama it was a miracle and the smile on her face made me
a believer.
I saw the joy in the face and eyes of Ken and I wondered if it was a
miracle for him as well… well not the catching so many fish that the boat
nearly sank and having to call for help from fellow fishermen kind of a
miracle… but the miracle of joy in Ken’s heart as he just made life much easier
for Mama and the kids at Huruma.
Then Carol offered to spend time with Mama today, transferring
documents and getting the computer to do what Mama needed. These two
women, from different continents and backgrounds sat together and made good
progress… and they laughed and smiled and bonded even more deeply… and it
is a miracle… well not the changing water into wine kind of miracle but a
miracle of friendship and the joy that both of these women will share for the
rest of their lives.
As I watched this all play out I realized this is all that I ever
wanted as a parish pastor… to share the good news of Jesus and to help people
become generous so they might know the joy that comes from giving… so that the
lives of others might be better… and along the way to sense a joy they never
felt before that leaves them smiling on the inside and on the outside.
Mama smiles today… so does Dan… so does Tom… so does Ken… so does
Carol… and so do I because I had the opportunity to see the joy in all of them…
it is enough to make me want to dance… but that would not be a pretty sight, so
I will just smile…. that is what the miracle of generosity does to you.
One more laptop sits on our desk… I wonder who will be the recipient…
I can hardly wait to find out.
And for you who might have taken the time to read this I would like to
invite you into the joy of generosity… it will leave you smiling and it will
bring joy to the very heart of God.
Gary & Carol
Awesome.
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