Building Futures- The Trees

There is a tree at the top of the hill on our driveway. It was planted the same year we built our house, more than twenty years ago. It is tall and full and a very dark and vibrant green. The picture of health as trees go.

But it wasn’t always that way.

The fact that it looks like it does now is actually quite amazing as I reflect on its youth.

We purchased two very small Australian Pines from a local nursery and planted them adjacent to our yard fence on two different corners. Now, it might be pertinent to mention that they were the first trees I had ever planted. I grew up in wooded areas where there was no need for such a skillset.

I dug two holes that were large, relative to the root balls on the two tiny trees. I was careful to remove the clay in the holes that is in large proportion in the soil in our area. We watered the trees daily and hoped for the best. We should have prayed because hope didn’t cut it.

By fall both trees had gone from a nice, dark green to the color of rust. The bases of both trees were littered with the needles they had shed. They looked to be near death, and I almost dug them up and added them to our burn pile further up the hill.

I decided instead to try to do the impossible and bring them back from the brink of their apparent demise. I drove fertilizer stakes in the ground, careful to place them in the same circumference as that of the outstretched branches. I did some research on watering and carefully followed the instructions in the text written by a renowned arborist. The recommendations for the fertilizer and watering were specific to newly planted Australian Pines.

And then we waited.

Fall finally presented itself and the extreme heat of the summer faded into cooler temperatures and some rain. The trees still looked dead. Winter came and snow covered the ground and the temperatures dropped dramatically. They still looked dead, but the ground was frozen, so we decided to just dig them up in the spring and add them to the burn pile.

Then it was spring. We were heading down the driveway and I glanced at one of the trees. I stopped the truck and looked closer in disbelief. There were tiny, light green needles on every branch of the two-foot tree. It was the same with the other tree. They were alive!

Well, the rest is history. As I already mentioned, they are tall, full and healthy trees. Birds hide from the sun in the dense green. They both provide shade in our yard and our two pups hide from the sun there as well.

Every time I look at them, I am thankful I didn’t give up on them and add them to the burn pile. Nothing good comes easy. There is always a sacrifice of some kind involved.

About a year and a half ago, we began construction on the Coulter McCall School in Kenya. It is now complete and being filled with kindergarten aged children who are more than eager to begin an education that wouldn’t have been possible without this school. These are children who all lived or still live in abject poverty. Many of them are cared for through our sponsorship program and they are now happy and healthy, either living in new homes we have built them or are a part of the community program that we fund. They have fresh, clean clothing, have been treated for their medical ailments and eat healthy meals every day. They have God’s Word and are receiving spiritual instruction in the Bible classes at the school. Their lives are good and they are thriving.

As I said, many are cared for through our programs. But not all of them.

Despite all of the good that is being done through our programs around the world, I am constantly reminded of how much is left undone and that the consequences of that fact are literally a matter of life and death. And I think to myself sometimes that it is an impossible task that we have taken on.

I want you to meet Princess and Brillian Chelangat. Princess is the younger of the two in the picture on the front. Brillian is her big sister on the right. It is probably obvious from the picture that they were not part of our programs when  said picture was taken a couple of weeks ago by Harrison, the Director of Acts of Charity and our partner in our work in that region of Kenya.

A couple of weeks ago, I was looking for a new student in the Coulter McCall School to be the student of the month inside of our newsletter. I asked our Program Director, Jeff, to have Harrison send us information on a new, nonspecific student.

When Jeff forwarded me Harrison’s email with their pictures and information, I just sat there and stared. After all the years I have been doing this work, you would think “shock” would be a thing of the past. Apparently, it is not.

It wasn’t at all what I had expected. I was shocked and stared because these children were dressed in rags. And it is difficult to see in this picture, but the original is much larger. The skin on their hands tells the tale of infestations of parasites. Their eyes have that all-too familiar far off and hollow look that we see in children that spend their days and nights suffering without hope.

It was painfully obvious that they weren’t a part of our programs, but two orphaned children from the community that were still living in abject poverty.

Then I read their profiles. Their story. And it reminded me of our two trees. A parallel of young lives on the brink of extinction.

No one knows who their father is or was. Their mother abandoned them both to their unemployed and very poor grandparents. They were struggling to survive without the burden of two young children. The mother simply left and moved to Nairobi and is now a prostitute who contributes nothing to her two girls. She left them to wither and die. Like the trees.

But like the trees, these two little girls, innocent and dependent on the good will of others, will not wither and die! They will not just survive but thrive and become everything that God intended them to be. Their grandparents will not suffer because they love their grandchildren either.

It will take some nurturing and love. It will take some time and effort, but these two girls will not suffer any longer. They will not spend their lives alone and without hope. They will not live in ignorance without education. Without God and the promise of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Ten minutes after I read the profile, I asked our Program Director, Jeff, to let Harrison know that we would be sponsoring Princess and Brillian from our General Fund until we find sponsors for them. By the time you read this newsletter, they will be wearing new clothes. They will have been treated for their skin conditions and they will be receiving proper nutrition every day. So will their grandparents. We have asked to see their living conditions as well. If need be, we will build them a new home. This family will no longer suffer simply because they were born where they were born.

They will be cared for and nurtured back to health. They will be given an education and learn about God and Jesus. They will grow up with love and security. And one day, they will do the same for their own children. They will grow strong and tall and full of life as God intended.

Like the trees.