Not Forgotten

As we took a two-hour boat ride to Bukavu, D.R. Congo, the Lord clearly placed Isaiah 49:14-16 on my heart. Though the people of this land have been ignored by most of the world, God has not forgotten them: He knows each of their names, stories and their pain.
We visited many people throughout the Bukavu area, and I was overwhelmed with emotion each time I shared this message.
The fighting throughout D.R. Congo has left the country with thousands of orphans, internally displaced people, rape victims and widows. Most of the people living in the Keredi slum (where ELI is working) fled there within the past two years after rebels burned down their villages and massacred their families. They fled to the slums for safety and now spend their days looking for food or a way to make as little as 30 cents a day.
Life in the slums is similar to that in a refugee camp; however, these people haven’t fled from another country—they’ve fled from places within their own country. Yet they cannot seem to get far enough away from the war. The area is still unstable and everyone knows that fighting could break out at anytime again.
It was such a blessing to sit with these people, to listen to their stories, and to assure them that they matter, that their stories matter, and that they’ve not been forgotten. I reminded them that God has engraved their names on His hands; they are ever before Him.
As I sat with six internally displaced women and their babies (see photo above), I asked them if it were possible for a mother to forget the baby at her breast.
“No!” they all responded emphatically.
“You’re right,” I responded. “It doesn’t seem possible. But even if it did happen, God has promised that He will never forget you. His love for you is even greater than what you feel for your child.”
As I shared with these women, God began stirring something in my heart for all the forgotten people of the world: refugees, discarded people in the slums, those still without the gospel in their language, and so many more.
God has not forgotten his children, and as His church, we cannot forget them either.