...The biggest freedom I see that is
missing from the people I have met here is the freedom to be young...
to dream big dreams and to imagine things, things that can be and
things that are far to silly to be things that you would ever even
really want to come true.

I have been hanging out with these
girls at the orphanage who are between 13-17 maybe... about the same
age as my little sister Tori. As I spend time with these girls
Brenda, Joan, Caro, and Gorret its hard to believe that they are so
young. These girls have grown up taking care of themselves and often
times their little siblings. I think of myself and of Tori and how
my parents allowed us so much just by taking care of us and being
present, allowing us to simply be and encouraging us to dream. The
children grow up young and tough here in Africa... but each time I am
with them I can't help but notice a softness that is so eager to be
seen.

I want to know what they would imagine
and dream if they were just taught how...

The other day I talked with Caro about
the library they are working on putting together there at the
orphanage and I asked her if she likes to read and she said that she
likes to read the Bible. That night I found myself escaping into
Narnia and thinking about how neat it would be to bring the girls
there too... to that place where they are asked to imagine things
beyond our own creativity.

Today I sat under a tree and began
reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to a few of the girls.
I had to explain many of the things to them... but it was all worth
it when it came to the part where Lucy first meets the faun Mr.
Tumnus. The book describes him with his mans torso and his goat legs
and horns on his head... and the girls kinda looked at me and I again
clarified and they just began laughing and laughing and then I was
laughing with them. They didn't want me to stop reading... they
kept saying what a good story it was as they smiled and their eyes
shown with a lightness that I had not before seen. I am excited for
the next time I get to sit under that tree with the girls... I am so
thankful that God is using me to bring to light a new side of them
that has been covered up by the tough lives they lead.

There is a little boy Emma here and our
whole team has fallen in love with him. I was talking with him and
this little boy Peter at the church the other day and they were
telling me about how they want to be pilots. I wonder how many
little African boys dream of being a pilot... but never even make it
on a plane. I hate that the likely hood of your dreams really coming
into reality depends so much on where you are born. I hate that the
growth of imagination is stunted for so many children by having to
take up the life early of a grown up.