Stop Calling Me Stupid! The struggles behind illiteracy....

Greetings Friends, today I am joining the blogging team with Help One Now. 
Please stay with me as we try and experience what it's like when the hope for an education is lost... 

Children who cannot read because their school was destroyed in the Earthquake of 2010 and the government has still yet to re-build.  

Please take some time and click on the following links as you read this.

May God Bless you all,

-Heather


What does this say? 

Can you figure it out? 

Maybe you just need more time. 

Try again.

What if I told you 90% of the population could figure out what this says? 

Well then... Why can't you? I mean seriously!? 
Are you stupid or something? 

Why can't you figure this out when most everyone seems to know what this says? 

Whats wrong with you? Are you an idiot?  

People have figured this out in only a few seconds...

Why is this taking you so long!?!

I hope you catch this...

I am not trying to be a jerk, but this is what it feels like when you cannot read.

People may call you stupid, but here is the rub...

You are not stupid. 

Deep down you know you are not stupid. You know why this is a struggle to read and it has nothing to do with being lazy or dropping out of school...

You were not afforded the luxury of attending a school. 

Your one hope of education, your school, was destroyed in a horrific earthquake in 2010. 

This photo of the 2010 earthquakes damage in Haiti is courtesy of Dan King at Bibledude.net 

You did not have this opportunity to learn, and because you cannot read you find yourself struggling with communication. 

You wrestle with interpreting signs, and finding locations. 

You do not know which signs lead to safety and which ones warn of danger.

You are an easy target for those that would trick and traffic you out to satisfy the sick and degrading pleasures of horrid people for nothing more than their own financial gain.

I pray my friends...

With all my heart, I pray today that you have glimpsed a small taste of the frustration that so many face today.

I pray that these few moments spent here move you past sympathy...
to compassion.

compassion 

a feeling of distress and pity for the suffering or misfortune of another, often including the desire to alleviate it. 

Do you feel it? 

Do you feel that deep distress? 

Do you feel God's heart calling you to alleviate it? 

We can friends... We can do something about this together. 

Meet Naiderson... his dreams will come true soon because people...

Blessed ordinary people, just like you and me, decided kids like Naiderson, should have a school again. 

Naiderson will have the opportunity to learn again. 

To no longer look at his world through only poverty's eyes, but through eyes filled with knowledge and hope that will help him to advance beyond poverty's trap door.

Will you join me friends? 

Will you join Help One Now? 

It's as simple as throwing a garage sale for these precious orphans and donating the proceeds.

Click here  to read how one child provided a play ground for orphaned children in Haiti by simply having a garage sale. 

If He can do it, so can we, right friends?

Or perhaps you would like to sponsor a child. You could be the one that brings hope to a little ones eyes by bringing them food, health, education and protection. 

This photo is courtesy of Dan King at Bibledude.net

I ask you friends to meditate on these things...

James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.





With every breath I breathe
With every song I sing
I want to shout it out, 
Lord I am listening!
To every word you speak,
I'll go where you will lead
To love the least of these 
Is my greatest offering!

-All Sons and Daughters

P.S. Are you still wondering, what the first picture said? You know, the one I asked you to read in the beginning of this post.

It reads,

"Being Illiterate is like being blind, dumb, or paralyzed."

So yes, some of my readers can read it, but many of us cannot because we did not learn Japanese. 

I used this as an illustration because the letters we see on a page that so easily form words and sentences look like foreign characters we cannot decipher without first being taught what they stand for. 

This is what it is like for those who cannot read.
To read more on the statistics for education in Haiti from Unicef click here.

Will you join me friends?

When my view, not the camera's is damaged

“Hallo!

Smile please.

 Ja? Smile?

 Goed!”

I spoke in a broken mix of Afrikaans and English that made them giggle.

 I smiled at their beautiful faces. 

These were some spunky and tough kids. I clicked the button and took the camera down to look at the picture on the screen.

Suddenly, I was mobbed by these precious little ones.

 I squatted down as their little hands tugged and wrestled to get closer… to see their very own faces on the view screen of the camera.

Laughter and screams of delight would ring out as they spotted themselves…

“Jesus lief jou.”

“Jesus loves you,” I whispered.

And this made me think…

I am pretty much mortified when I see a picture of myself.

I feel embarrassed as I immediately spot my imperfections. My nose that was broken a few times has a lovely crook in it from certain views, my teeth that are not quite right anymore…

While on this mission trip one of the photographers snapped quite a few pictures of me laughing…she said she loved how my whole face lit up.

 It was a compliment, but I tell you I looked at these photos and thought…”Ah! I look like a donkey laughing!”

But those little ones in South Africa and even my own sweet children just adore seeing pictures of themselves. 

They delightedly attempt all sorts of crazy poses and muster up their silliest expressions trying for the biggest laugh… 

You see... Their view finder is not damaged yet.

They truly find joy in seeing themselves in these photos.

And this is where God whispers once again and humbles me.

“I look with great delight at each and every one of your photos my child.

I love you. I created you. I designed and knit you together in your mother’s womb. “

Psalm 139:13-14

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.

I wonder… Do I?

Do I know that full well?

Do you know this?

Maybe we all might need a look through our Heavenly Father’s camera lens that is full of grace and love. 

He isn’t distracted by our crooked noses, scars, or lack of muscle tone. He looks to our Hearts first. 

He is speaking love and grace over His cherished children.

I pray you hear Him as He whispers to you today...You are cherished by the King of Kings my friend and oh, how He loves us!

I pray you know this today,

Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When I am on the edge... He whispers

"His kind of love is reckless for us

His kind of love will never give up

Till the whole world knows how far he went to show..."

-Group 1 Crew

I encourage you to click on the links to read the actual Bible verses that I will be paraphrasing through out this post. I pray they bring you encouragement and for the Lord to strengthen you and protect your hearts in Him. I pray for blessings and growth through Him. That you have eyes to see his love for you today and every day. I pray for peace in the storms that you may be experiencing in your life right now. His peace that surpasses all understanding. Philippians 4:4-9

Silence falls all around me, it’s a rare feat.

In the midst of the chaos in my life I find this moment precious and dear. 

A time where my Lord is sending me His sweet reminders of,

“I love you. I love you, even when you are in pajamas, with a mess of hair on your head and feeling quite inadequate for these tasks in the days ahead. I will be a light unto your path.”

He whispers in the angry winds that seem to batter our home,

“When you are weak, then I am strong. Do not be afraid for I am your God and I will comfort you and hold you up through these storms.”

When I lay down with the cares of the day weighing heavy on my heart…

When tears fall as I weep for the loss of someone dear. Or I find myself grieving the times of hurt and division in God’s body or even within our own family.

When I wonder what in the world I am supposed to do today with so many people screaming for their wants, and their needs, like a toddler yelling incessantly, “Mine! Mine! Mine!”

Yet, He is still there…

Wrapping His warm loving arms around me and prodding me with His tender mercies.

 “Cast your cares upon me. Don’t stress or worry about tomorrow, for each day is enough on its own.  Above all else guard your precious heart in me for it is the wellspring of life.”

When the noise and stress of this world get too loud and I feel yanked and torn by those who would harm…

When I want to yell,

“Just be quiet! Leave me alone! I can’t do this anymore!”

God sets my feet upon His rock of truth and tells me to stand.

He nudges me forward with these simple words,

“I Love you, my precious child, with all of My heart. I will not leave you nor forsake you.”

When I slowly pick myself up from the ground, and ask Him what can I do? I am so frail and weak! Why do you want to use me? What could I possibly do for you? He tells me,

“I have shown you, my daughter, what is good.
    Act justly and love mercy…
    take each step humbly with Me.”

So today I choose to rejoice in His love and in His promises. 

I will say yes to my Lord and sometimes that means saying no to others. 

I will guard my heart each day and follow His light of truth for each step I take towards justice and mercy; loving Him and loving others. 

I will stand in His strength alone, not my own. 

Casting my cares upon His strong and able shoulders for He is my God, my Fortress, my Abba Father.

I want to thank a dear friend of mine, Mandy, for her fearlessly transparent blogging and amazing prayers that inspired this. If you get a chance you can check out her beautiful blog at
 Hearts Undaunted 

God Bless you friends!