Will you be His hands and His feet?
// January 13th, 2012 // Loux Family News
Many of you probably saw the CBS news report a few years ago, regarding a scene that was so shocking that it even stunned soldiers hardened by trial and conflict – naked, listless, emaciated Iraqi orphans lying unattended in their own excrement while covered in flies and tied to cribs on a concrete floor. Meanwhile, in the adjoining kitchen of this government orphanage in Baghdad, three ‘caretakers’ were cooking themselves a hearty meal while the twenty-four special needs children were starving to death in the next room.
Even more troubling is that the orphanage storeroom was well stocked with food and brand-new clothes, yet the staff was allegedly selling these items to local markets instead of providing them to the children.
Sadly, it’s just another example of the exploitation and abuse that can occur in government-run orphanages, especially those in poverty, disease and war-ravaged countries where accountability is non-existent and corruption is extreme. Below, are photos and they will shock you. I think sometimes it’s good that we are shocked into the reality of what’s going on in our world. We, as the church are going to have to rise up and walk out what we are “preaching.” Christ is the only answer for these horrifying injustices. We must link arms together to bring awareness, to give financially and through our time, to be the hands and feet of Jesus to these ones who are His priceless children!
Please don’t turn away, thinking there’s someone else out there who will act….let this be the year that YOU will act.
Instead of writing anymore, I’ll let the photos and captions speak for themselves…
“They thought they were all dead, so they threw a basketball to try and get some attention, and actually one of the kids lifted up their head, tilted it over and just looked and then went back down.”
- Staff Sgt. Mitchell Gibson
“I saw children that you could see literally every bone in their body that were so skinny, they had no energy to move whatsoever, no expression on their face”
- Staff Sgt. Michael Beale
“The kids were tied up, naked, covered in their own waste – feces – and there were three people that were cooking themselves food, but nothing for the kids”
- Lt. Stephen Duperre
“There was a boy with thousands of flies covering his body, unable to move any part of his body. We had to actually hold his head up and tilt his head to make sure that he was OK, and the only thing basically that was moving was his eyeballs.”
- Staff Sgt. Mitchell Gibson
“There were hundreds (of flies) in his open mouth. They were crawling out of his nose and ears and anywhere they could feed on his flesh and bloody, open sores from sleeping on the concrete, in what appeared to be the last few hours of his life.”
- Staff Sgt. Mitchell Gibson
“The smell was so bad, that you could smell it from outside in the street. It even overpowered the smell of the food cooking in the kitchen.”
- Anonymous soldier
“How could you take the most vulnerable children and subject them to such torture?”
- Lara Logan, CBS Correspondent
“Two women working there posed for pictures in front of the naked boys as if there was nothing wrong.”
- Lara Logan
“I can only imagine they (the caretakers) thought this was absolutely normal. Or that these special needs boys, who could not talk or communicate properly, were not human to them.”
- Lara Logan
“Violence is creating widows and orphans on a daily basis, many of whom are left to struggle for survival. Iraq’s children, already casualties of a quarter of a century of conflict and deprivation, are being caught up in a rapidly worsening humanitarian tragedy.”
- UNICEF
17 Responses to “Will you be His hands and His feet?”
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- Renee Loux said: Hugs Greta! Love your heart!...
- Greta said: Thank you! Blessings to you too. I want you to k...
- Renee Loux said: Please read my post again. I'm not bad mouthing ch...
- Greta said: Following Jesus on your own (alone) is not what Je...
- Heidrun Anwander said: @Lisa Loewen well, you go to Bagdad, rent a ho...
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- Will you be His hands and His feet?
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Horror. Horrible. Horrendous. No other words.
Why? How could you? I have no words for this….
Sharing!
Beyond tragic and horrific! OPEN THE EYES of our HEARTS LORD to be YOUR HANDS AND FEET TODAY! GOD HELP US TO STOP TURNING THE OTHER WAY AND FACE THE TRUTH! Help us to live out what You call us all to do – TO LOVE the least of these!
Actually that is NOT what I said. What I made was a SAD face, a very, very SAD face.
Sharing on KingdomInsight to spread the word
Dear Loux Family,
Your blog post “Will you be His hands and His feet” hit home for me. It is my heart, my plea and my daily cry. The tears flowing down my face have been flooded by emotion ranging from heart-break to righteous anger. Overwhelming enough to stop my breath. Thank you for sharing this story. Thank you for your beautiful heart in writing it. I hope it is ok with you, if not I will most respectfully remove it, but I link it to my blog post today. I want my readers to understand why I write and do the things I do and I believe your blog post reflects my heart perfectly. Please let me know if it’s a problem that I shared it n my blog. Thank you and God bless you and your family and I look forward to reading more and more of your story! Blessings!
Here is my blog that I linked this too. Thanks
http://growing4hisglory.blogspot.com/2012/01/absolutely-heart-wrenching.html
Speechless!!! Grief stricken beyond words. I really don’t know what to say.
There’s a lot of children starving and suffering in this world. Some from natural disasters, poverty the list goes on. But to see an institution run my 3 heartless demonds who kept these children in a Hell that they didn’t deserve is something else. My husband and I both cried. I wonder if these women were mothers. Either way they’re monsters.
I cried when I say this, what can we do?
I often say “I’m only one person, what could I do”? But seriously, what can I do? The heavens must be weeping. We cannot treat each other like this!
Sharing on FB and my blog….it is PAST time for us to take a stand!!! Thank you so much for sharing this!!
Google Watoto. Someone saw a problem in Uganda and found a solution. A village was formed, widows became the care givers to each household of orphans and everyone became a winner. It requires the donations of caring people and the dedication of others. Check it out and find food for thought. There are solutions. Maybe one child with special needs per household would be doable. pj
Oh my goodness, I’m overcome w/grief for these children. Along w/some of the other comments, I am truly wondering what can I do? Seriously… the needs of these children have been on my heart for years and I ache to help them, somehow. While I can’t afford to adopt, I have to do something. Where/how do we begin providing for these very children? How do we begin to change the lives of these children that are just left naked and dying? I don’t want to “just send money” to an organization because at this moment, as my heart aches for these children & their immediate desperate need(s), it seems a bit “cold” and merely just a pittance…
@Lisa Loewen
well,
you go to Bagdad, rent a house, collect the children. Your co-workers you must find amongst the educated people, There must be some of them left in Iraq.
And then, of course you will want to raise more money, to finance all that, but little donation will help a lot where its needed.
lots to do
GoodLuck!