Solomon’s Story

I have personally experienced going to bed hungry, lack of medical attention, loss due to malnutrition, living on the streets, and generational brokenness. These needs are why I have a passion for physical and spiritual transformation. This is why I launched A Bright Future for Kids.

 

The day my little sister passed away 

As the youngest of nine siblings, my little sister was a favorite baby to be around. We had some great moments with her and memories. However, when I think back, my strongest memory is of how her health gradually deteriorated. She became weaker and weaker. Over time I watched her smiles start to disappear and be replaced with a face of pain and hopelessness. 

With the life we had, it was hard to get food on a table, let alone cover expenses for doctors. When I think about it now, I realize that since my mother worked as a maid, it would have been hard for her to leave work. It would jeopardize her job. My mom did manage to get my little sister some help from a local clinic. 

As days went by, her condition became worse and worse. One evening after my mom came home from work, I watched as my sister started calling mom with a voice that took all her energy. Watching that and seeing my mother’s helpless face made me feel frightened and hopeless. I feared losing her. 

It was troubling to see the inner part of her belly button sticking out, along with her swollen belly. That has stuck in my memory. I remember crying and begging my mom to do something. All I saw in my mom’s face was helplessness. My little sister passed away. 

That was my first experience with the reality of death. It was so traumatic, I experienced involuntarily leaving my body, high enough I was about three feet off the floor and then fell. Never in my life have I felt so devastated, confused and helpless.

The days after she was buried, it still felt unreal and I hoped she would return. I prayed that I would have one more chance to see her and promised to take care of her. I would go to her little burial ground, dreaming and praying she would come out. Seeing all that happened to my sister changed the way I see children.

I remember walking around, intentionally looking for other children who looked like her. I even started bringing children from our neighborhood home. I was fond of other children and developed special bonds with them. I believe that watching my sister experience excruciating pain changed my heart forever.

Now I realized that malnutrition is what caused my sister’s disease. Today that same passion that God placed in me for children has become a call to serve children, specifically the forgotten and helpless. Watching what my mother went through and her helplessness remains printed on my heart. I believe that God wants me to use that experience to serve widows and single parents.

 

Continued……….