Should this post come with a warning?

Today my heart is so heavy and so full of sorrow that I can actually feel it ache inside of me. It is causing so much pain that I wish I could take it out and just hold it close for awhile.

When I started this entry I wondered if I should put a warning label on it but after thinking about it, I am not going to protect anyone from what is happening in real life. The things that I write about and share are things that are actually happening and that I am having to deal with on a regular basis. Those who follow my blog, do so to support me and to keep up on my life in South Africa and so I will not protect you from things that are going on, no matter how gruesome or disturbing they can be.

Yesterday I found out that a very sweet man (who works with us at Door of Hope) had just buried his wife. She did not die from old age or from HIV, she was not sick and her death was definitely not expected. In fact just a few months ago I was still learning more about her and her husband but first, let me tell you how I have come to know this wonderful man and his wife.

I had seen him once before and hadn't thought much about it but on his second day of work something inside me was so moved for this man that it brought me to tears. As I arrived at work I found this man sitting at the side of the house, trying desperately to fix his broken sandal. Something so small, so simple, and that can happen to anybody is all that it took to break my heart and fill it with compassion for this man. Later on I learnt from our Director that this man does not have anything, that he and his wife struggle to make ends meet. Not only do they struggle financially but just a year and a half ago their little girl passed away, leaving them with their only son. God spoke so clearly to me in that moment as I watched him mend his broken sandal and told me to go buy shoes for him. So not only did I buy shoes for this man but I bought them for his wife as well. I went and asked what size he and his wife were wearing and then I went and bought three pair of shoes for each of them. Something so small but that was such a blessing to him. the way his face lit up, made me feel blessed as well. As I have watched this man work and spoken to him briefly, I have been able to see what a kindhearted human being he really is. Which is why when I found out not only that his wife had passed away, but how she had died, I was overwhelmed with sorrow for this man.

Two weeks ago, his wife was murdered.

In his own words "they slit her throat and cut off her titties".

I am not sure how or when or why they have done this. All I know is that they not only took her life but they then cut her into pieces. I don't get it. How can a human being do something so evil? How in someones right mind can they slit a throat and then cut off her body parts? How is it possible to be that filled with evil? they say that when someone is killed in this manner (yes; it does happen that often) that it is usually for the witch doctors who use body parts to make their medicine. I don't get it. I hate it. I hate what they did to her. I hate what they have done to this man and his son.

The saddest part is that the very next week after his wife's murder, this man came to work because he was so in need of the money. Not even having time to grieve because he has to pay for the funeral and the only way to do that is to work. We have given him money, and we have given him food parcels, but how on earth do you show just how sorry you are? and just how much you wish that you could bring her back and make everything good again?

Please pray for this man and his teenage son. Pray for their hearts as they learn how to heal. Pray for their finances, that God would just bless them beyond imagination. Pray for their salvation, that in this time of great sorrow they would find their peace and comfort in the arms of God. Pray that God will be glorified through the pain. Please just pray.