On a previous visit to the tribe’s villages, I was introduced to a woman six-months pregnant with a Mingi child who she knew would be killed soon after the baby’s birth. Overwhelmed by learning of this terrible process, I asked her how she felt. She tried to be emotionally unattached because the issue of her motherhood had been decided; she knew no other option for the child. However, as she spoke, tears gathered in the corners of her dark eyes. To know that you have to kill the child growing inside you must be harder than anything else imaginable.
When our team arrived in Africa in January, four of us headed south to meet with Lale, a tribesman who had completed his university education and also attended a discipleship training school in Germany. The Mingi issue weighs heavily on Lale’s heart. After much discussion concerning the fate of six Mingi children expected to be drowned soon, we decided to travel south to the tribe’s villages. We would assist Lale while he took custody of the first child and then we’d help him establish an orphanage. While there, the team wanted to go to the main village to pray for a Mingi child in danger. Lale’s friend took six members of the team on a three-hour journey by foot in 120-degree heat to meet a man who had a daughter named Bale with teeth that had grown in on the top first—believed to be an indicator of Mingi—who had been hiding for five months. Within two days, the elders would likely kill her. A question haunted us: “Do we take action and become responsible for a life, or do we do nothing and let a child die?”
We stood on the bank of the river waiting for the canoe that would bring the parents and child out from their hiding place. We sat down with the family and the leader of the family—the father’s uncle—expressed appreciation that we would take the child. Soon the uncle handed me the little girl and told us it was time to leave. As we drove off, I kept wondering how could anyone want to kill this beautiful little girl. When Lale arrived the next day, he saw the child in my arms and said, “Now you really know how I feel, don’t you?” Lale, Abril and I headed off a few days later to pick up five more children. Despite many obstacles, we were able rescue all five kids, from four months to five years old. When we arrived, Lale, his wife, Gito, and a few other women were ready to give the children baths and feed them.
The orphanage that was set up to support these kids was appropriately named Drawn from Water. To read more of their story, go to their blog: http://www.drawnfromwater.org/
This is the latest picture of their kiddos. If anyone is at all interested in adopting from Drawn from Water, they just did a post on how to take the first steps. (See the Feb. 20 post)
