(Written by Dan Ohlerking)
Alex and Alexina. They’re twins that are about the same age as my own twin boys. When I heard about Alex and Alexina, their story cut straight to some of my deepest emotions. I hope it does the same to you.
Nellie, a teacher at one of the Children’s Cup CarePoints in Swaziland recalls that they were three-year-olds the first time she met them. She arrived at the CarePoint early one morning and just outside the front door, she saw them laying flat on the ground on their stomachs, hungry and filthy.
She soon learned their parents had both died of HIV/AIDS. They were staying with their grandmother who the people in the community described as “a drunkard” and who was not providing them much beyond just a roof over their heads.
Nellie brought them clean clothes, lotion, and soap, and each morning she would bathe them, put clean clothes on them, and have them ready for the breakfast the CarePoint cooks prepared for them.
“When I first bathed them they could not stop smiling! These kids had never put on underwear so for them it was very happy!” Nellie recalls.
All too soon though, and for no apparent reason, the children quit showing up at the CarePoint. But one day a team of workers from the CarePoint found them during some visits to homes in the community. They learned that the children had stopped coming to the CarePoint because their grandmother was making them go to the garbage dump to scrounge for food for the entire family.
The team was able to arrange for the children to come to the CarePoint again, where they are now receiving the love and nurture that has escaped them for so much of their little lives. What’s more, thanks to supporters of Children’s Cup, Alex and Alexina are now able to go to school, too. The latest report is that in recent school testing they had the second and third highest scores in their class!
They went from being three-year-old orphans fending for themselves to find food and being forced to rummage through a garbage dump to provide for their family to happy children who are learning about Jesus and are thriving in school.
And this happened because of the love of those who give to help Children’s Cup give hope to hurting children. You made it possible for a teacher to provide for them. You made it possible for a CarePoint to be built in that community. And you made it possible for them to go to school. (Click here to see how that works!)
As a father, this story moves me to tears. As a man, it moves me to abandon the petty concerns that clutter my selfish mind. And as a follower of Jesus, it moves me to do all I can to see more children like Alex and Alexina meet hope.
If you feel the same way, would you do these three things right now?
- Pray right now for Alex and Alexina specifically, and for their grandmother and grandfather.
- Ask God to speak to you about what He wants you to do to be a part of helping Children’s Cup give hope to hurting children like Alex and Alexina.
- Do what He tells you to do today. You can give online right now by clicking here.
Thank you for helping write this new chapter in the lives of Alex and Alexina through your faithful giving. It truly is making a difference!
P.S. I was able to visit these two totally amazing kids last week during my visit to Swaziland. We walked up to their home – a mud-walled, metal-scrap-roofed shanty, surrounded by a clearing strewn with garbage. We spoke with the grandfather and I asked if i could pray for them. I prayed for them like they were my own. And then I did something else. I asked if Alex and Alexina would pray for my boys, Rhodes and Rhett. The most I could understand was “God bless Rhodes and Rhett,” but that was good enough for me!
And Nellie, who also is part of Healing Place Church in Swaziland, told me last week that she's planning now to bring them to church one Sunday soon, so they can experience children’s church there. All I could think is, “Thank you Jesus, for your way of doing things!”
