The Nelson Mandela Umudugudu

November 22, 2010

The Nelson Mandela umudugudu (village) in Ntarama that 4-More will be serving is a very special one.  

Meet Mama Valentine and her sons Prince and Derek.  Valentine is a genocide survivor, a genocide orphan, mother of a two year old boy, Prince and she is raising Derek, her nephew as her own son. 

Valentine was engaged to be married in April of 1994.  While she planned her wedding, something darker was being planned.  The “genocide of the Tutsi” in ‘94.  Her husband was one of the casualties, but a certain swamp kept her and her siblings miraculously safe from the Interhamwe (the murdering militia).  She stayed in that swamp for just under 100 days until she was rescued.

Her son, Prince and the other boy she cares for named Derek are fatherless. 

We’ve been looking into that word, biblically these past few days.  Just what makes an orphan?  Will both parents need to be removed from their lives?  One?  The Bible uses orphan and “the fatherless” almost as the same term.  Read up on Psalm 10, 68, 120, 107… to name a few, and see what God says about caring for the orphan.  His interest, we’re learning is very fixed on the orphan and the widow. 

Derek is a growing young man.  Though he’s a bit shy, he’s friendly, warm and patient.  His interest is in making things work … almost like he has the mind of an engineer. 

Prince is a very serious 2 year old.  He’s begged his mom to go to school.  Since he’s too young to begin primary school, he attends a local school for adults who have never learned to read or write.  Valentine told us laughing, “He sits there with the Nannies and the Pappies as a two year old and is learning, very eagerly to read and write.”  Valentine has been a good mother to these two and is teaching them how to walk with strength and integrity on God’s path.

4-More, for those of you who don’t know, will be bringing clean water to this village through the ministry of Water for Life.  They’ll also be coming along side of them to teach them to farm as well as helping by giving them spiritual aide through a church central to their location. 

4-more.org    checkem out. :) 

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