Flora is a beautiful, intelligent young woman with a sweet spirit. Nineteen years of age, she is a victim of spinal tuberculosis, and because of her deformities was rejected and forced from her home by her family who thought she was a curse to them. A few years ago she was confined to a wheelchair, but when she became a Christian, Bayo prayed for her healing and baptized her. She then “graduated” to arm brace crutches. However, through consistent and fervent prayer she can now walk independntly without the crutches, but her badly twisted back limits a lot of her movements.
At Bayo’s invitation, Flora attended our conference in Dawar, riding there on a piki-piki (Tanzanian motorcycle taxi). When we heard about her travel to get there, we made arrangements to drive her home in our car at the end of the conference, thus giving us the opportunity to get to know her and her life even more. She is presently in the home of a friend until it is time for her school to start. She invited us to her humble home the next morning where she prepared and served us chai and mandazi (African fried donut-like pastry), making deliberate moves to serve us herself. We felt so humbled by her spirit of generosity in the face of her challenges.
Our hearts are so blessed to know Flora, this beautiful and tender child of God. We will pray faithfully for her and we look forward to seeing her again when we return and check on her progress at school.
Note: Please pray for Flora’s continued schooling and finances. She is an excellent student, and she has the heart to continue her education so that someday she may become a teacher to other children with disabilities. In this culture, it is so common for disabled children to be unwanted and uncared for. (We have heard several times about the common practice among some tribes to simply take their “cursed” children out to the bush and leave them for the lions and hyenas. Others have been known to lock their child in a back room of their house, giving them no food or water until they die.) Flora dreams of giving disabled children the love and encouragement with which God has blessed her, as well as someone with whom they can “belong.”
Because she now has no family to care for her, the prospects of her continued education are slim. Bayo has said that if she can afford the next level of her schooling, he and his family want her to join their family, to open their home to her so that she could be near the school. Thus, she now faces the big challenge of school fees. . .all by herself. Only $350 per year would pay for her school fees, her supplies, the school uniform, etc. Please pray for her.
