weeping daily / a hand to be held

Hayat Mohammed/Muktas is four years old and in a place of difficulty most of us never have known and never will know. When Hayat was four months old, her biological father, Mohammed died of AIDS. According to common customs in Ethiopia, Mohammed’s brother, Muktas, then married the widowed mother of Hayat. By entering into a marriage relationship with his deceased brother’s wife, Muktas was choosing to take responsibility to provide for his brother’s widowed wife and daughter, Hayat. Hayat never knew her biological father, but she has known Muktas as a type of father for all of her life thus far.

Just ten days before our meeting her, Hayat’s mother passed away to AIDS. Obviously, this has been a difficult transition for Hayat, as she has lost the mother with whom she was surely very close. Lately, she is very reserved, unhappy, sad, withdrawn from the people around her, and full of tears. Just a few hours earlier, Hayat’s uncle was not able to go in to work for the day, as he had found her weeping.
She smiled, but you could tell it was not a real smile. It was hard to know what to say to people who had gone through far more than I have ever even imagined experiencing. And it makes it even harder considering Hayat comes from a Muslim family, who has not yet experienced the love, life, hope and grace that are found in Christ. They’re getting through the situation, but it is hard to know what this must be like without the comfort of a God who is intimately involved with their every care and worry.

Pray that this currently empty hand will be led to encounter the hand of Jesus - the hand that is straining and longing to hold her hand forever with an everlasting love. He will give her hope. He will give her life. He will wipe away her tears.

Pray also for her uncle and other surrounding community members, that they too would have an encounter with the God that loves them. He is the one who can show them how to care for this child who has lost her parents. He can show them how to raise Hayat in a way that will give her hope of life beyond the death of her parents.

(a couple from the community who assists in caring for Hayat)

Pray that what the enemy tried to use to steal life will be redeemed by Christ to bring life that is more real than this family otherwise would have known. I am a strong believer that this is what our God is doing with AIDS. What Satan is trying to use to steal people away from God, God can use to bring an even greater amount of people to himself. This is who He is.

(Pastor Esayas,director of the church's community outreach program)