7.04.09

Happy Independence Day! Today we celebrated by feeding 200 street children (Natasha and I) and then hosting an American brie (BBQ) for our Namibian family and American friends.
[Real quick, I made that comment to one of the Americans about being glad our Namibian family and our American friends could join us. “How ironic”, she said dryly and expressionless. Yes. I guess it is. And I LOVE it.]
We had hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, macaroni salad, brownies, oatmeal raisin cookies, and ice cream. So American! They thought the meat was a joke compared to Namibian meat, and it was. But it was so much fun to have everyone over and talk and laugh so hard that at one point I fell off my chair. PLUS, Chandre came! I love being American, but their welcoming us into their family has made me want to be a bit more Namibian than I am.
The day wouldn’t be complete without one heartbreaking interaction. I talked to a girl just a year older than I am. She has been raped six times in the last two years, three of the times by her best friends from school. First I cried. Then I hit the truck (thankfully we were outside. the truck is tougher than Alex, my usual punching bag). It makes me so angry that men steal so much from girls. Their innocence, their identity, their perceived value. And I just have to listen and say I’m sorry over and over again because I can’t do anything to change her situation.
Jesus. No theology can reach to this level of pain. No doctrine can speak to these hurts. Just Jesus.