Abandoned in Malawi
Abandoned in Malawi
A baby’s life is saved just in time.
A peculiar whimper broke through the stillness of the African bush. A lone woman walking on the trail nearby paused. Had she heard a wounded animal? The sound came again. Stooping to peer under the brush by the path, she noticed a lump beneath a piece of cloth. Cautiously drawing nearer, she discovered a tiny baby. The abandoned infant appeared close to death.
The woman spun around, looking in every direction and wondering what to do. Her destination was still a distance away. Peering through the trees, she saw thatched rooftops. It appeared to be a small village. Clutching the infant to her, she ran to tell the chief of her find.
His words to her were final. “The child is yours because you found her.”
This could not be! The woman was a grandmother. She did not have the means to raise a child.
In a panic, she darted around the village to search for the baby’s mother. Through bits of information, she pieced the story together. A pregnant woman had arrived in the community. She was a stranger. The villagers told the pregnant woman that she was “insane,” and emphatically assured her that the baby would be “insane” as well. When the baby girl was born, the villagers told her not to keep the baby. “She will be crazy in the head, just like you,” they said.
“Will anyone have mercy on my child and take her for their own?” the sorrowful mother asked.
No one volunteered. Feeling that she had no other choice, the new mother took her baby into the bush. She laid the infant on the dry, red dirt, and wrapped her in a piece of cloth. The mother disappeared, never to return.
Some people believe in “luck,” but I believe in divine providence. Although the grandmother was not in search of a child that day, the compassion in her heart would not let her look the other way. The woman brought the tiny infant back to her hut in Chipanda village, where a Trips with a Mission Center was located. To make it possible for the grandmother to keep her, we agreed to educate, feed and clothe the child. The grandmother named her Yamakani. Today, the little girl is five years old – a lively, clever and beautiful girl! She loves her grandmother.
It warms my heart to see how God puts people in the right place at the right time. At the beginning, we struggled with the decision to open a project in Malawi. There were many obstacles in our way. How sad it would have been if we had lost heart, when God needed us there to help save a little girl for His kingdom. Praise God that this precious child was rescued! Praise God that with the contributions of kind and generous people, we are able to partner with Him to help the children.
Location
Malawi
Author
Suzy Sims is the director of Trips with a Mission, a ministry dedicated to helping the less fortunate.
Pray
Pray that God will provide all that is necessary to help the needy children.
Donate.
If you would like to donate to this worthy cause, send the funds to:
Trips with a Mission
108 W. Tomichi, Suite A
Gunnison, CO 81230
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