Joan and Suzan

I always thought about how hard it is to seek God out in a world where we feel as though we can do without him. It is easy to think that we can have control over our own lives and not give him the time of day. We find ourselves constantly making the excuse that we are too busy. We doubt his control, his voice and even his existence. So although we may be from a blessed nation, faith is not "necessary". Therefore, it made sense to come to the conclusion that it would be easier to live by faith if you had nothing. If you had come to the revelation of Christ with nothing to lose, then would you not want to live completely for Him. Would there really be anything between you and Him? I do believe that if you gave God complete trust and control, it would be heaven on earth.
I was sharing this with a local pastor in Uganda, and he said something that really challenged me. He said that there are those who have been blessed on earth and will be blessed for eternity. There are those who suffer on earth, but it is momentary to their eternal comfort. Then there are those who will suffer on earth and suffer for eternity.
Joan,16 and Suzan,14 were members of the Bugembe World Prayer Church. They both stole my heart. Joan and Suzan were both entering secondary school in the upcoming year and both loved to sing. They constantly were asking me for prayer and I admired their faith. One day they asked me to come and meet their families. Suzan lived with her aunt because both of her parents had passed away from AIDS. Her family could barely afford to send her to her boarding school a couple blocks away. Joan spoke better English and so she was able to share more about her family. Her dad died in an accident when she was 2, and her siblings had all passed away from AIDS. She always asked me to pray for her mom because she had malaria. I met her mom and she looked close to death. Her mom did not have malaria, in fact she was dying of AIDS (Joan did not know). Twice I went to visit her mom and pray with her.
After Joan's mom passes, she will have no one. The last words that Joan said to me was asking me if I could support her to go to school. Of course we heard this all the time, but she was one of the few people I know asked me because she knew that I cared and not because of the color of my skin. I told her that I had nothing to give and that I hope God leads us together again.
It is not until you see the tears of the oppressed that you begin to realize the responsibility as the comforter. I trust God with their lives.