Little girl by the lake

She was timid, and stood at the back of the crowd of kids who had gathered around me trying to touch the Mzungu.  I was with Mama, Tracy & Hope in the small village of Matoso on Lake Victoria.  We were visiting one of the dukas to buy bread.  I immediately was drawn to this girl because of her hand.

Many of these children have never seen a white person before.  It makes me laugh to see them touch my skin and then look at their hand to see if the white rubbed off on them.  I cut through the crowd of children to greet this little girl who was standing a bit away from everyone else.  She was about 8 years old, cute with braids in her hair and she had no fingers on her right hand.  All that remained was a thumb and a burnt stump.  I can only surmise that she must have lost her fingers in a terrible accident. 

I held out my hand to shake in greeting.  She would not meet my eyes but instead looked at the ground.  She held out her left hand to shake.  Obviously she was aware of the grotesqueness of her right hand.  Perhaps the other kids teased her and called her names.  Perhaps she was used to people recoiling in horror at the sight of her hand.  For whatever reason she became accustomed to shaking with her left hand and hiding her right. 

I shook her left hand and then I lifted her chin so she would look at me.  I pointed at her right hand and said, “I want to shake that one.”  She seemed scared but she held out her stump to me.  I gently took it in my hand and shook.  A big grin came across her face.  I did not reject her.  I did not call her a name.  I liked her despite her deformity. 

From that moment on she was by my side walking wherever I went.  I held her right hand as we walked greeting people in the village.  If we were invited into someone’s house then the little girl waited for me outside the door until I came out.  We walked together until it was time for us to head back to the farm.  I waved goodbye to her, she was still smiling.  I never found out her name but I will never forget her.

It’s the same way with God.  He sees our sin, our deformities yet He loves us anyway.  He does not reject us or turn away from us.  Instead He gently  takes us in His arms and says I choose you.

P.S. The little girl came to church this past Sunday.  I found out her name is Comfort.