learning from orphans

There is a fantastic article by Arthur Jones at the Duke Call & Response blog about Rwandans refugee AIDS orphans. <-see, it reads like a tear jerker.  Not-so.  It will put a smile on your face as it firmly plants a foot dead in your rectum:

We underestimated the heart of these orphans. We did not expect them to reach out to other orphans. We foolishly thought that these African orphans would act “responsibly” (that is, like we wanted) and slowly save their money, ensuring that they will have food to eat for many years to come. This is not how Davis acted.

Davis had an orphan friend named Sqberio (pronounced skw-ah-berry-oh) who was left to take care of his two younger siblings. They were hungry. So Davis gave Sqberio half of his salary every day to train him to be the second baker of Blessings Bakery. In churches in the US, we struggle to convince our church members to give 3%. Davis gave 50%.

When we asked Davis why he had done this, he did not seem to understand the question. Evidently, giving what you have is the only thing to do when your friend is hungry. Not only did Davis give up half of his salary, but he opened up a bank account and they go and deposit the money together every week. On their way to the bank and back, Davis teaches him about Jesus. Now the bakery employs both orphans at full salary.

 It was good for my soul, and seems like an important read. Check it out.