Purpose

8th February, 2010 - Posted by Helene Frost -

Last August I joined the Open Arms International UK team as Chief Executive. My first assignment was to fly out to Kenya for a week to see for myself how the Open Arms Village is being run, and to take part in the other community-based programmes that Open Arms runs.

Little did I know,  I would be changed forever by was about to happen to me. My first afternoon there, I went with the Open Arms team to the Kambi Teso slum feeding program. Many children in this area suffer from chronic malaria, pneumonia, malnutrition, and HIV/AIDS.

Four times per week, we feed 115 children the only meal they are likely to eat that day. On the truck, we had huge pots of freshly cooked rice with lentils, vegetables and potatoes, as well as fresh drinking water.

Many of the children in our feeding programme are not only hungry; they are also starved of love and affection. Three-year-old Felix was no exception and would not let go of me. As I lifted him up, I noticed him trembling with a fever. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was clearly unwell.

Then we had a downpour, the ferocity of which I had never experienced before. For the next two hours, we found shelter for the children while Felix slept in my arms. Fearing that their carers might get worried, we eventually had to send the children home in the pouring rain.

However, Felix had no shoes, his ragged clothing was soaked and he kept shivering. Sending this little child, trembling with fever, back into the pouring rain to a fate I did not know simply broke my heart. It was the one of the hardest things that I have ever had to do.

At that moment something changed in me forever, and it was a gift for which I will always be grateful to Felix. I knew why God had prepared me to lead Open Arms International in the UK; his purpose for me to advocate for children like Felix was being revealed right in front of my eyes.