isabelmaldonado - It could have been me

In a previous blog I wrote about Maswane. She is a 19 year old girl who is mostly bedridden and has this horrific skin disease. I had heard stories about her before even going to see her and still, the moment I walked into her one room mud and stick house, I was overrun with emotion. I sat and heard her story. I held her hand. I prayed for her as she laid on her bed on the floor, crying out in anguish. My heart cried out to God, "Please save her from this pain. Rescue her. Please." This was just the first visit. A few days later I returned with a girl from a short term trip and a translator. The sun was setting fast, but so many days had already passed since I last saw her. I couldn't get her face out of my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about Maswane. There was no turning back. I had to get back and sit with Maswane.When I saw her I wasn't seeing a person dying with AIDS. I saw a beautiful daughter of the KING! She is redeemed and loved!

So there I was with different creams, hoping that one of them would help soothe or ease the pain and provide some comfort. Here lies this young girl, dying from a disease given to her at age 5 after she was raped by a relative. I heard her story again and my heart began to cry out to the Lord, again. It was in this moment that I realized I could be Maswane. I could be a young girl lying in bed dying with AIDS forced upon me. I could be forgotten in a small hut in a country most people don't know exists. But because I was born in America, where the HIV/AIDS rate isn't at 46%, where even though I don't have insurance alternative health care options are available, where the average life expectancy is quadruple the amount of that in Swaziland, I am not this girl. Maswane was. I found out today that she passed away this week. Here I sit in Dallas, Texas. There are 30 young, healthy girls that have already lived past the age of what most children in Swaziland will live to.

While I can't fix the world, God has given me a story to share. He has given me a heart for the young girls in Swaziland that are faced with issues of unforgiveness and bitterness towards their abusers. I have been there. I have walked through this. And He has equipped me to bring healing to a generation that is fighting for their lives. Every day I sit here in my cozy room my heart breaks for those that I love in Swaziland. Those that may not have a meal to eat or a family to go home to. My heart longs to be back already and I have only been back in America for a month now.