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Chiritsani Mtima Wopweteka - 'Ndi Galu'
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Chichewa 'Ndi Galu' Front Cover |
LESSON #1 Cyclone Warning
LESSON #2 The BIG Cyclone
LESSON #3 The Morning After
LESSON #4 Hospital
LESSON #5 Life in the Home
LESSON #6 Good and bad secrets
LESSON #7 Life in Tent School
LESSON #8 Giving my life to Christ
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LESSON #9 I’m a new creature
LESSON #10 I’m in the Lords army
LESSON #11 Free at last
LESSON #12 I’m sorry
LESSON #13 Daddy
LESSON #14 Peace like a river
LESSON #15 He watches over us
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CHAPTER 1 - Cyclone Warning
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"Adil, No school tomorrow, the radio says there is bad weather coming," my Mother announced the news. "Hurray! No school!" I thought to myself. Being seven years old and in Primary School, I much preferred playing in the river with my dog to school work!
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""The President says no work either it is serious" my Mother continued. She said everyone was told to stay home and tidy up their yards so nothing would fly about in the wind, then she sent me to tie down the garbage bin.
The adults were talking about some Tropical Cyclone called Idai. I have a friend at school whose name is Idai, she said her name meant 'love' surely this Cyclone was nothing to love! Some said the storm would miss us and others said that we needed to pray hard. Aunty Leila said she heard that people in another country had to stay safe in a storm last week by sitting in a tub. We did not have a tub just a shower outside!
I wondered where my Dad was. He did not live with us or even in our village. He worked in the cotton fields and cutting sugar cane. I did see him though, as he would bring bags of food for my Mum. He would sometimes talk to me on her phone. Even thought dad is not here I know I am important to my mum and dad. Mum was always telling me "Adil you are a special boy"
The sky was getting darker even though it was only five o'clock. One of the men from the Village Council came by and said that we should have cut the tree outside but it was too late. He asked if we had food and reminded us to charge our phones and fill buckets as the light and water would probably be cut off in the storm. He showed me a picture on his phone of a map with a big red and yellow blob with a white dot in the middle. He said that was " the eye of the storm"
It looked like a dragon's eye, it made me a bit frightened.
CHAPTER 2 - The BIG Cyclone
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We will never forget that night, It was about 7pm when the electricity went off and we turned on Uncle Camilo's flashlight. The wind was howling outside and Granny kept talking about a cyclone she had been in as teenager called ' Domoina ' in 1984.
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Uncle Camilo got a message on his phone from a friend in America to say the storm was Category 4 and coming right for us and it was the strongest ever!!!! Water started coming under the door and something hit the window and broke it. Uncle Camilo taped a cushion over it. Mummy and Aunty Leila were trying to mop up water with old towels. I was holding the puppy, who had started to shiver, and hoping no one noticed she was inside.
Suddenly there was a huge crash and the door broke and the Wind came inside and so did a lot of dirty water and we realized that the river next to the house was overflowing. We all backed into the bedroom where Granny was on the bed. Uncle Camilo put my mattress over her. The noise was terrifying with the crashing of falling trees and buildings and thunder rolling. We could hear the neighbors screaming. We slammed the bedroom door and put a chair under the handle. Then we all hid in the closet, even Puppy . We were squashed together in the closet except for Granny who was still under the mattress..... the water was coming in under the door........then suddenly it was quiet.
Uncle Camilo said this was the "Eye" that the Village Council man had talked about. We came out of the closet and could see the sky where the ceiling should have been. Uncle Camilo said "Come on, we will have to go to the Shelter." He pushed open the front door and there was a lot of water. The river was where the road should have been. He told me "Go Go Go!" He and Mummy went back in the bedroom for Granny. Aunty Leila was crying and saying she did not want to leave the house. I found my coat and put it on pulling the hood up tight.
I held on to Puppy and stepped into the water. We had to get to the Primary school. The wind was quiet and the air strangely still.
Even though I walked on the side of the road the water was up to my knees. Aunty Leila was holding Uncle Camilo's phone shining a light at me. Mummy and Uncle Camilo were following, carrying Granny at least I thought they were.....
Then the wind got angry again and the water was up to my waist. I held the puppy inside my coat. The light went out and something hit my legs under the water. I fell over and felt myself being sucked away by the water...... my head banged into something. P uppy put her foot in my mouth, that's all I remember!
CHAPTER 3 - The Morning After
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I woke up under a car, kind of jammed against
the tyres. I was wet and had mud in my mouth
and my head was hurting but thank God I was alive
I could not really work out where I was. I could see
the sea and, where the ravine usually was, there
was a big river, with great big stones.
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And mud - mud, mud, mud everywhere. You could not see the road
because of the mud. I had a big lump on my head. And where was my
puppy? I called her and looked and looked. People were standing
in the street just looking. Cars were smashed and crushed. Electricity
poles were down and wires everywhere. I could not understand how
I had got to the Bay. Our house was much further up the ravine.
I thought I saw my puppy down by the sea and I went to look, but
it was a bigger dog.
Whilst I was there on the stony beach, a policeman in army uniform
called to me. I asked him if he had seen my puppy. The Policeman
took me to the Shelter and I expected to see my mother, Aunty Leila,
Uncle Camilo and Granny. He gave me to the nurse instead. She touched
my head and said I had to go to the Hospital in Town. I thought
maybe my mother was hurt and so I was going to see her. People were
just sitting and staring. One lady was bawling a lot. I heard someone
say she had lost her baby that seemed careless. I thought someone
should help her look for it. The Policeman said we would have to
go to the hospital by boat. Someone gave me a Mandazi and I was
very grateful because my tummy was rumbling.
On the way back to the bay we went past a crushed car and I heard
a whimper. I saw a tail. I told the Policeman "stop, stop please
I see puppy" I looked under the car and there was Puppy wet
and muddy but there......
I picked her up and hugged her tight she was shivering. The Policeman
said Puppy could come too, at last something good had happened.
The Policeman told me I was a champion and not to focus on what
I had been through I was to focus on where I was going in life –
where ever that was – the Hospital right now, unless this
boat sank!
I remembered the story Auntie had told about floating in a bath
tub and I was thankful that I was in a wooden boat speeding along
with Puppy’s ears flying behind her!
CHAPTER 4 - The Hospital
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We went on a boat and The Policeman
took me to Police Headquarters. Someone gave me some Nthochi
bread and I shared it with Puppy . She liked it
a lot. A young police woman gave me a string to tie round
Puppy 's neck so I did not have to carry her all the time. Then
the policeman took me to the Hospital.
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It was quite a long walk up a steep hill and there
was lots of mud and a funny smell. The river was very
full. I saw a helicopter coming over my head with a flag underneath.
The Policeman said it was the United Nations flag and that it was
stuck under the helicopter was so people would know who was helping.
There was galvanized roof sheets everywhere from the roofs
and cars were blocking the road sitting where the river had
put them. Some people seemed to be carrying a lot of shopping which
was odd as the shops were mostly broken.
When we got to the hospital there was a skinny nurse who was vexed
and said that Puppy could not come inside Casualty!
I was tired and sad. I wanted to see my Mummy
and my Aunty and my Granny and Uncle
Camilo! I said I did not want to stay there. The Policeman said
it was OK and that he would hold Puppy for me whilst
I went in with the Nurse. I thought I was going to see my family,
I looked in the room but there was just a little girl crying, an
old man who was very still and a very pregnant lady
moaning. There was a young boy like me with blood running down
his leg into the water on the floor making a horrible mess. The
nurse took my temperature, s he said I had to see a doctor.
The doctor looked very tired. She said she had been there for 24
hours, all the way through the storm, but no one had come to relieve
her. She said that I had a "con cushion" or
at least that is what it sounded like. She said I should go
home and rest. I told her our home was gone and
I did not know where my family members were. She called the
policeman in and Puppy peed on the floor. You
can imagine the nurse was not happy!
Whilst the nurse was shouting and getting a lady to
come with a mop the police whispered in the Doctors ear. Then
the Doctor told me to go and sit outside on the chairs
with Puppy . After a long time when the Policeman came back
with a bottle of water and Nsima, I loved that ground corn and this
one was served with meat. He told me that I was going on a big adventure.
He also told me that they were looking for my Mum and Uncle
Camilo and Aunty Leila and that very sadly
they had found my Granny and she was not alive any more.
He told me that I had to go to a nice Big House and wait
to see what would happen. I was worried in case the people
at the Big House would not like dogs. I began to cry I thought I
might lose Puppy and I would be so lonely. I did not really understand
what he said about Granny, how could she not be alive any more,
I was confused.
The Policeman told me that he would tell them at the Big House
that Puppy had to come as well.
CHAPTER 5 - Life in the Big House
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I was waiting at the hospital and suddenly,
things happened in a rush. Some strange soldiers came and
the Policeman told me to go with them. I was pleased when
I heard him tell them "the Puppy goes with Him –
it’s all he has left".
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We went to the savannah in front of the hospital and there
was a helicopter already there. The blades on top the
helicopter were spinning like a fan and it was very loud.
The dust and leaves were blowing at me like the hurricane
wind all over again. The policeman did me high five and
gave me to a big soldier who made me do up my coat
and put a helmet on me. He put ear plugs in my ears
and a sort of life jacket on me.
Two soldiers pushed me up some big steps into the helicopter. I
looked back and waved to the Policeman. Then they strapped
me into a seat and they told me to hold Puppy
tight. A lady soldier told me this was a Wild Cat Helicopter.
She was funny and blocked Puppy 's ears when she
said "Wild cat" as she said dogs like to chase cats! She
had a red cross on her shoulder and she said she was
a nurse as well as a soldier. She said they were just giving me
a ride to the Children's Home as the bridge on the way was gone
and there was lots of rubbish blocking the road. I asked if
my Mum would be there but it was too noisy I could not understand
her answer.
When the helicopter landed, they undid all the straps and
took off the lifejacket and I got out still clutching
Puppy . It was further than I thought and I fell down.
I felt stupid as there were loads of children watching from the
steps of the big house. They seemed disappointed that it was just
me and Puppy, until behind me the soldiers brought
out bottles of water and boxes of biscuits. "Come
on Boy" said a Lady in an orange T shirt, "come away
from that helicopter." She took me into the kitchen with P
uppy and I heard the helicopter flying away. I never
got to say goodbye to the nice Nurse Soldier Lady.
The Home was huge. There were lots of bedrooms for boys downstairs
and upstairs there were lots more for girls.
The roof had come off a bit so the girls were all in just two of
the rooms, and there were piles of wet clothes everywhere.
There was a very big dining room and kitchen. I was
in a room with three other boys and I had my own bed.
The home had a generator that was noisy but it was nice to have
light. There was no TV or Internet as the Storm had messed up everything.
To save gas they just put the generator on from 6.00
-8.00pm then we went to bed and used flash lights.
The Lady in the orange T Shirt was called Miss Gizela, she said
Puppy had to live in the dog house under the building but
that I could see her when I wanted. She gave me to a man called
Mr. Hamza also in an orange T Shirt and he showed
me where Puppy would stay. He even had dog food for
her. He said their dog had got lost in the flood. No one knew
about my Mum and Aunty and Uncle Camilo.
I told them the Police said Granny had died but they were looking
for the others. Another younger staff member said she heard they
were all washed away and said "accept her sympathy, the
Lord is with you boy, all these things will make you strong" I
thought that must be a mistake and at that moment I felt rather
weak not at all strong. I asked for my Dad but they said they heard
that they were all gone. I did not think that could be right.
CHAPTER 6- Good and
bad secrets
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Another problem was Mr. Mwamba. He always
looked at me as if I was in the way and said I should not
hug Puppy as I would get ‘Leap To Spring Osis’!
And he told Azizah, my only friend, to stay away from me.
I began to avoid him. Then one Monday he just did not come
to work any longer!
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One day Azizah told me she had a secret to tell me. We sat under
the house with Puppy and she told me........she told me Mr. Mwamba
had left because of her. He had been trying to get her to do bad
things. He told her that he would get her ready to have a boyfriend.
He had been trying to touch her under her panties. He told her if
she did not do what he said he would kill Puppy. She said she ran
straight away and told Miss Gizela what he tried to do and the police
came and took him away. She said Mr. Mwamba was in the prison waiting
for the court to decide on his punishment. I was so mad! How could
he say he would hurt Puppy I was pleased he had left as I felt like
doing him something really bad, like punching him on the nose.
Azizah said she knew what to do about Mr. Mwamba's bad intentions
towards her as it was not the first time. She said her mother's
boyfriend had done something wrong to her before and she had told
her Sunday School Teacher. She said that is why she was in the Home.
As her mother did not believe her but the Sunday School teacher
did. She said the Sunday school teacher told her to "tell the
truth and truth would set her free" and that she had prayed
with her, then she got brave and when the Police came with the Welfare
officer she told them all about it and they were sorting it all
out.
Azizah said she knew that you should always run from people with
bad intentions and tell someone. She said she knew now that some
bad secrets should not be kept. She explained that “Good secrets”
were like not telling about a surprise party or what was in a present.
But “Bad secrets” were those where the person threatens
you if you tell what they did and where they touch you. No one except
your mum or the nurse should touch you where your underwear goes
and then tell you not to tell anyone that is a bad secret to keep.
Azizah said that after that experience with her mother's boyfriend
she had been different. She said her Sunday School Teacher had told
her that God loved her and that it was not her fault. She said she
had decided to serve Christ. I did not know what she meant but I
did know I was pleased Mr. Mwamba was gone.
CHAPTER 7- Life in the Tent School
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After about two weeks in the Big House, which
turned out to be a Children’s Home, with more new people
coming each day, the staff said the roads were clear and that
we would have to go to school.
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They made us walk about a mile as the bus had been crushed by a
tree falling on it. School was weird, no uniforms, no books, and,
because the galvanized roof sheets had blown off, we were in a tent.
Tents are funny things. When the sun comes out they are hot, hot,
hot and you have to roll up the sides. When it rains and some of
the children cry because they think the storm is coming back, then
you have to let the sides down again and be hot and sweaty again.
Our tent had UNICEF written on it which meant that nice people from
overseas sent it.
In the afternoon foreign workers came in blue T shirts they said
they were our friends and they set up something called a Child Friendly
Space where we played games. Their names were funny and if you did
learn them then they left for good! So in the end we just called
them "Miss" and "Sir"
I did not have any friends in the Home except for Azizah. She was
12 and was already at Secondary School so she did not come with
me to the Tent School. She had lived in that Home for months before
the Storm. She would sit with me under the house and pet Puppy and
talk to me. I told her that I did not believe that my Mum and Aunt
and Granny and Uncle Camilo could all be dead. Granny was old so
I could believe that she had not made it but not the others. I had
dreams that Mummy was calling me, and when it rained, the smaller
boys would cry and I would I dream I was under the car covered in
mud. (With Puppies paw in my mouth!)
The other children all seemed to know each other and the three
in my room were all from the same village. They called me Helicopter
Boy and would make helicopter noises every time I came in. One big
boy said that he hated people from my village and that he would
poison my dog as she wasn't a fierce breed like the Boerboel, or
the South African Mastiff. He loved Boerboels and so, after a while,
that is what we called him, even the staff. "Boer" became
his name. Everyone would have a job in the Home, Boer’s was
to take out the garbage to the bins. He always made me do it so
that he would not hurt Puppy. He said he would tie a block round
her neck and throw her in the river. Sometimes I was very sad and
lonely I would hide and cry quietly hugging Puppy who was my only
comfort.
I didn’t do too well in the Tent School, my mind was easily
distracted and I got muddled up at times and couldn’t concentrate.
I wish I could remember where I use to live, I guess it was that
bump to my head!
I wondered when my Dad would come and rescue me.
CHAPTER 8 - Giving my life to Christ
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"Come and meet my Sunday School teacher
Adil!" So the lady who had helped Azizah ‘tell
the truth’ had come to visit. She was pretty and
she smelled nice. She had a guitar and played songs with the
children. She gave us Bible story books and crayons to colour.
She said that Jesus could sleep in the storm when he was on
a boat. I thought that was incredible!
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I could not sleep properly in a nice bed as the storm kept troubling
me in my dreams and I kept crying for my mum. She told us that Jesus
had a special power not to be afraid and not to hate people who
hurt him. She told us that because Jesus loved us he died on the
cross and wanted to help us to be friends with God and have power
not to be afraid and not to hate people. She said we had to decide
whether to follow Jesus or go our own way. She said the way to become
a Christian was to Repent and Believe.
I thought this sounded interesting I have always wanted special
powers!!! Also I was very troubled about how much I hated Boer and
Mr. Mwamba too!
I knew God had saved my life and I really needed to be able to
sleep in the storm. I decided to give my life to Christ and to be
a Christian. I am not a great reader but the Bible Books had loads
of pictures and the Sunday School Teacher said that God loved everyone
whether they were top or bottom of the class, good or bad, pretty
or ugly, that Jesus still died for them so they could "tell
the truth and the truth would set them free" She taught us
about Noah who had survived a flood and how God had put the rainbow
in the sky to give us all hope that He would never destroy the earth
by flood again. I liked that story because I had seen a big rainbow
when I woke up under the car that awful day of the flood.
Boer somehow heard that I had put my hand up when the Sunday School
Teacher prayed. He straight away said I was a Bible bashing Christian.
He said Christians were selfish, only helped their own church people
and taking people's money. He said he would kill Puppy then I could
pray for him to be raised from the dead. I felt myself getting red
I just wanted to punch Boer on the nose! That night I remember the
boys in my room were especially tormenting with their helicopter
noises and saying that nobody wanted to be friends with Helicopter
Boy.
I pulled the sheet over my head and asked God to switch on those
magic powers as right now all I could think about was all the bad
things I wanted to do to those guys.
It started to rain and the littlest boy started to cry but I went
sound asleep I dreamt about Noah in the Ark and God sending the
rainbow but I wasn’t sure I could trust that I was frightened
the flood would return. All of a sudden I felt so lost and lonely
all I really had to call my own was Puppy, she made me smile, but
then I remembered I could call on my new friend Jesus.
CHAPTER 9 - I'm a new creature
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Next week Azizah and I were the first in Sunday
School, I could hardly wait to learn more. She had told us
this week we would learn about a butterfly that really started
out as a fuzzy little caterpillar. I didn't like caterpillars,
my dad had always warned me that they ate lots of his vegetables
in the kitchen garden, I knew I didn't like them they were
ugly, no one would say that caterpillars are beautiful.
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A caterpillar is a worm -- and worms are not beautiful! In fact
the only good thing about worms was that you could put them on a
hook and go fishing. Azizah squirmed when I told her my fishing
stories, with wriggling worms.
But then I learnt in Sunday School that one day the caterpillar
spun a cocoon about himself and stays there for several weeks. Just
hanging upside down, occasionally twitching, who would imagine that
anything good was happening. But it was like the caterpillar was
being born again and when it comes out, it is no longer a caterpillar,
it has been miraculously changed into a beautiful butterfly, it
was a new creation.
But it took time, it was like the caterpillar died in the chrysalis
or cocoon and eventually the butterfly emerged but it was a struggle.
One day Puppy and I were in the field next to the Children's Home
and we saw a chrysalis hanging from a twig, it started twitching
and cracking open. We watched as the butterfly struggled to get
out. It made me think of all the struggling I had to do over the
time since the ‘BIG Cyclone'. I later learnt that a butterfly
must struggle out of its chrysalis to start the blood to flow into
its wings to make it strong and able to fly. It must do this to
complete its life cycle into a butterfly. I felt I wanted to help
the struggling butterfly but by assisting the butterfly and helping
it to free itself, I would never let it fully develop and fulfill
its destiny. I would actually be hindering it and prevented it from
becoming who it was meant to be. What God showed me was that what
He does, sometimes in our lives, is to allow the struggle, the hurt,
the process because we must fight to become fully who we are meant
to be.
If He stepped in to help during the most crucial part in our lives,
we would never become who we were made to be. As I pondered this
thought out came the butterfly, flying away … with Puppy in
the chase, she chased that butterfly all around the field until
she eventually fell into the ditch which was filled with muddy water,
you should have seen her she changed from a white puppy to a brown
dog! "That's it Puppy you are going to have a bath even you
will become a new creation!"
The Bible says, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come!" When we invite Jesus to
come into our heart, we become a new creation. God doesn't just
clean us up, He makes us into a new person.
So now when I find myself in a huge struggle or fight I can have
hope. I now understand that this could be in the most important
part of my life that will make me into who I am destined to be.
I know that Jesus is with me and what I am to become is so great
that all I have been through and am going though will pave the way
for what I am to become. Strong, free, and soaring high with beautiful,
colorful butterfly wings to carry me onto the next adventure of
life with Puppy.
CHAPTER 10- I'm in the Lord's army
|
I was so excited because today the Missionaries
from America were coming to visit us in the Children's Home.
We were told they were brining lots of toys from America,
I could hardly wait, even Boer was excited and seemed in better
mood than usual.
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I was so excited because today the Missionaries from America were
coming to visit us in the Children's Home. We were told they were
brining lots of toys from America, I could hardly wait, even Boer
was excited and seemed in better mood than usual.
When they arrived I was given a brand new skateboard and not only
that but all the protective gear needed to keep me safe.
They told me the first thing was to make sure I had the right kind
of shoes. I know you wouldn't go skating in a pair of cowboy boots,
would you? Your shoes should have a flat bottom to help you get
a better grip on the board. Next, I was told every skateboarder
should wear a helmet. You might think that wearing a helmet makes
you look like a dork, but, believe me, it is the smart thing to
do. Another thing you will need is pads. It is important to have
pads to protect your elbows and knees. Now that I had all the right
gear, it is time to go skateboarding. Even professional skateboarders
make sure they have the right protective equipment.
Just as we need protective gear in skateboarding, the Bible teaches
us that we need protection in life. The Bible calls it the armor
of God and it tells us that we need the armor of God to protect
us from Satan's evil schemes. We were taught this in Sunday School
and marched around singing 'I'm in the Lords army' I loved it, Jasmine
thought it was for boys only but we got to learn about the armor
of God.
The belt of truth - The Bible tells us that Satan is the "father
of lies," but he can never win if we will hold on to the truth
that Jesus Christ is Lord
The breastplate of righteousness - Satan can never harm us when
we choose to do what God says is right
Feet fitted with the gospel of peace - Satan tries to create worry
and confusion in our lives, but knowing Jesus brings peace
The shield of faith - Satan will try to plant seeds of doubt in
our hearts and minds, but those seeds of doubt can never take root
if we have faith in Jesus
The helmet of salvation - Jesus came from heaven to earth to save
us from the evil one, if we accept salvation in Jesus' name, we
will win the battle against Satan
The sword of the Spirit - the Bible, God's Holy Word, it is a powerful
weapon against Satan.
I know no skateboarder should ever get on his board without the
proper equipment, and I should never try to go through life without
the armor of God.
CHAPTER 11- Free at last
|
That Sunday School Teacher came back again
the next week and asked if any of us had any questions.
I said "How do you turn on the magic powers?"
She told us that God loved us and wanted us to be free
from fear and free from hate. She told us we had to take
our fears and tell them to God.
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She told us that God always listens to us and that one of the special
powers is prayer and that this is like a private phone to God. She
said this private phone is only connected to God. He must have millions
of ears to hear everyone at the same time. She said that fears and
nightmares are like ropes that tie us and that God can cut them
if we ask him in Jesus name. (We all made cell phones out of cereal
packets and started talking to God!
Then she said that hating people was the opposite of what God wanted
us to do. She told us it was hard to have love for God in your heart
if your heart was filled with hate. She told us we could open the
tap of our heart and say we are sorry and let the hate run out.
She said this is called repentance.
She told us a neat story about a woman who did some bad things
in her life. She didn't say what they were but we know that she
was very, very sorry. She felt so bad in fact, that she went to
see Jesus in someone's house–when she wasn't even invited!!
She didn't know anyone, the people in the house didn't want her
there but she was meeting Jesus! I imagine she must have felt very
scared and very little. I don't mean little like she was tiny, I
mean little like she was with people who were very important. She
probably felt UNimportant. Not only did she go, but she knelt down
behind Jesus and washed his feet WITH HER TEARS! Then she washed
them with perfume. You can imagine how the other people in the house
felt. One of them got upset with her and with Jesus! Simon the Pharisee
didn't think Jesus should be letting her do that. But Jesus not
only let her do it, he told her that her sins—all the bad
things we do in our life—were forgiven. She was able to leave
with a happy and peaceful heart. There were so many lessons to be
learned from this story, firstly the woman did something wrong and
wanted to make it right. I could think of lots of things I had said
and done that I wish I could now make right. Azizah told me this
is what Jesus wants me to do. If we do something wrong, what could
we do to make it right? What are some things we could do to make
it better?
The other thing we need to get from this story is how Jesus reacted.
Did Jesus throw the woman out? Did he say—"you did something
wrong, leave me alone?" What did Jesus do? He let her stay,
he let her ask for forgiveness, and then he forgave her. It's important
for us to do the same. I decided to give it a try. After all, what
had I got to lose except horrible dreams, bad feelings and loneliness?
I gave God my fears, my memories of that scary storm, the sadness
and the loneliness. Then I gave God the anger and the hate. It wasn't
easy but I chose to stop hating and to forgive those mean kids and
even Pit.
Then I remembered Mr. Mwamba and his threats to hurt Puppy and
I thought of him in the State Prison and I even decided not to be
angry with him any more too. I was free at last, free to forgive.
CHAPTER 12- I'm sorry
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I just have to learn how to say ‘I'm
sorry' it just doesn't seem to come naturally, Boer has
made my life a misery and I have been mean to him as well.
How do I say I'm sorry? These were the questions I was asking
myself, Azizah and our Sunday School Teacher. She told me
that sincere apologies can lead to forgiveness, which takes
the sting out of hurts.
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I knew this was necessary in a happy, healthy life. But I had
to learn how to say I'm sorry, how to apologies and really mean
it even to someone like Boer, because up until now I was glad I
had punched him on the nose. Then I learnt the three things needed
to successfully apologise.
1) Remorse: Feeling sorry for the action.
2) Repentance: Expressing what's in your heart.
3) Recompense: This is when you try to make amends, which is not
always possible, but always worth a try.
I knew "I'm sorry" means nothing unless it comes from
a repentant heart. So I first had to ask God to forgive me for being
so nasty to Boer.
I had read in Aefeso 4:32 Koma mukhalirane
okoma wina ndi mnzake, a mtima wachifundo, akukhululukirana nokha,
monganso Mulungu mwa Khristu anakhululukira inu.
So I had no choice but to go and find Pit and tell him how sorry
I was for punching him in the nose. “I'm sorry Boer. I
blew it. I was wrong, please forgive me Boer." Guess what
Boer put his hand out and we shook hands, it was the beginning of
the healing that was so needed
I felt better after unpacking all those super powers but I was
still lonely...... That night I dreamed of my Dad. He was looking
for me in the mud, and all the nightmares and fears of that terrible
night came flooding back, but then, in my dream Jesus came walking
into my room and turned on the light and I wasn't afraid any more
and Jesus took my hand and led me outside. There was dad and he
and I and Puppy started playing on a lovely green lawn outside of
a beautiful new house, it was a good dream and I woke up feeling
good inside.
CHAPTER 13 - Daddy
|
Miss Gizela and the other adults
in orange T shirts were always asking me what I remembered
about where I came from. I told them my name - Adil
and my village and my Mum's name was Adelina
but I could not remember Granny's real name or Aunty
Leila's or Uncle Camilo's other name. I told them my
Dad was Ildo . That is how I got my name. AD-IL.
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They told me that the Police said that they did not find my Mum
and them and that the house went in the sea. I
kept hoping it wasn't true. They said they would try to find my
Dad.
Then one day Miss Gizela came into school and said
I had to come 'now, now, now!' I was worried that maybe
something had happened to Puppy or that she had escaped
and chewed up someone's shoes. It would not be the first time.
She said no, I had a visitor. I went into the office and there
was a very dirty tired looking man with a beard. It was ......my
Dad.....He held his arms out and we just hugged
and hugged. He said he was sorry, that he had only just
found out where I was as he had been told I was lost with my Mum
and Leila and Uncle Camilo. He had walked for
days to get from the other side of the island to get to our
village. He said that people said that the whole family was
lost. Then he met that Policeman from the first day and he
told him I was alive and in the Home. As I listened,
I realised that it was true my Mum was actually gone in the storm,
and Aunty Leila and Uncle Camilo, I cried
and cried and cried and then Miss
Gizela suggested I take my Dad to meet Puppy .
When we sat under the house my Dad gave me a special present, all
wrapped up, a Teddy Bear toy, soft and squidgy, little did I know
how precious 'Teddy' would become to me.
Dad told me that he had been so sad when he thought that I was
gone and that seeing me today was the best thing that
had ever happened to him. He told me that he was so sorry that he
had not come before. He asked me to forgive him for not being there.
Dad said our lives may have taken some strange twists and turns
but the One who holds our tomorrows is still in control. It kind
of reminded me of the story of Joseph in the Bible. Dad said that
he had asked God to help him find me and now that he
had, we would serve God together for the rest of our lives.
" And Puppy"
I said
CHAPTER 14 - Peace like a river
|
Dad and I along with Puppy moved back into
the country side, it was where we were from, it's where 'we
belong' Dad told me. The rolling hills and wide open
spaces were better than the cramped housing we had been in
while in quarantine, it was healthier for us as well dad said.
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Dad started planting vegetables, and keeping fish, goats and even
rabbits to eat and distribute among the community. He taught
me about Moringa and we planted it all around our property and all
the animals ate it and started to get fat. We even drank the tea
and began to feel stronger and healthier.
Sometimes we would all go down to the river to play. Those times
I felt most at peace, Puppy would splash around at the edge and
try to pick up rocks from the river bed, when she did bubbles would
come out of her nose! It looked so funny I would laugh at her.
Dad taught me how to swim in the river, I loved those times with
Dad, he made me feel special and it almost made up for not having
mum around.
I continued to go to Sunday School and I learnt more about peace. This was a whole new experience for me. I learnt that Jesus said " Mtendere ndikusiyirani inu, mtendere wanga ndikupatsani; Ine sindikupatsani inu monga dziko lapansi lipatsa. Mtima wanu usavutike, kapena usachite mantha."
But sometimes at the end of the day, when it was time to turn out
the lantern, we still did not have electricity, and go to bed, I
wanted to know that I was not alone in the darkness. That is where
my toy Teddy Bear came to the rescue.
I shall never forget the day Dad gave me 'Teddy' the day we were
united at the Big House and at night Teddy was never very far away.
Somehow, the darkness was not so frightening with "Teddy"
in the bed with me, and Puppy sleeping at the foot of the bed in
his special bed that Dad had built for her.
Our Sunday School teacher told us if we want to know peace, we can
only know that peace when we know Jesus, the Prince of
Peace. If we don't know Jesus, we can have no peace.
That is how I was at the Big House before Jesus became my best
friend and gave me that super power to forgive Boer and even that
nasty man that threatened to kill Puppy and did nasty things to
my friend Hanifa. I had no peace only fear and anger and loneliness
but those days are now way behind me. In another life it seems.
I thought to myself "Adil you have moved on, now I have my Dad
and my Heavenly Daddy and Puppy, what more could a boy ask for!"
CHAPTER 15 - He watches over us
|
As time went by the crops started to grow again,
the bananas were bearing and there was more to eat. The trees
were green again with leaves and some of the fruit trees that
we thought were dead after the storm and flood started to
spring.
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There was a new sense of hope. Dad said that I was growing up,
I was very pleased, I pushed my chest out and stuck my chin up in
the air and went on tip toe to make myself a little taller. Dad
said I was now his big boy, he had my back, he was watching over
me.
One day I noticed that Puppy was growing up as well in fact she
was getting very fat!
I didn't understand why until she started to pull leaves together
and she found some rags in the shed and it seemed she was making
a den for herself under the house. Then she lay down and I sat down
and watched over her as she gave birth to three beautiful little
puppies. They were perfect except their eyes were shut, but Dad
explained they were born that way and very soon he was right they
opened their eyes and saw me for the first time watching over them.
What 'Fun Fabulous' days we had Puppy and I playing with her new
puppies, I just knew I could never be happier than I was those days.
Puppy always watched over her puppies, she would pick them up and
bring back into the shelter if they wondered off and that is when
I began to think that my Heavenly Daddy knows everything that I
go through.
There is nothing that happens to me that He doesn't know about.
Just like Puppy, He is watching over me. When I felt lonely and
totally abandoned at the Big House, when everything seems hopeless,
I began to realize that even then God knows and God cares. And if
I wonder off track a bit, He comes after me just like Puppy rounds
up her puppies so my Heavenly Daddy comes after me, gives me a big
hug and brings me back into the pack.
Then it all came flooding back, the smell of Mandazi cooking on
the wood-fired ovens, Granny's Mandazi were always light and fluffy.
We would enjoy it most when it is straight out of the oven, warm
and delicious. I can smell it now , I can see Granny pottered
around the kitchen at the back of our old house that the Storm and Flood destroyed,
and I can hear her now, singing at the top of her old crackly voice
an old song the Missionaries had taught her .
"Why should I feel discouraged?
Why should the shadows come?
Why should my heart feel lonely, and long for
heaven and home?
When Jesus is my portion, a constant friend
is He.
His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches
over me.
His eye is on the sparrow; and I know He watches
me."
And I wept with joy, I knew my heart was healed
and for the first time since that dreadful night I sang out loud
"I sing because I'm happy. I sing because I'm
free!
His eye is on the sparrow; and I know He watches
me.
His eye is on the sparrow; and I know He watches
me."
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Not just sparrows, He watches
over Dad and I
'And Puppy and her puppies'!
THE END |
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