Little Children of the World

As the classic children’s song says:

Jesus loves the little children

All the children of the world

Red and yellow, black and white

They are precious in his sight

Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Today I was blessed enough to see and visit with some of these precious little children. Lauren and I decided to go to the District Hospital that is just a few minutes down the road from us and visit and spend some time with the newest citizens of Malawi, and possibly future students of St. Andrews!

We entered the labor and delivery ward and were warmly greeted by all the new mothers. There are no single rooms available in this hospital; all the mothers that had a normal delivery with a healthy baby yesterday were crowded into one area sharing the few beds there. As we visited the nursing staff was going around to the different mothers collecting the names of the children to prepare birth certificates so they could be sent home. The new moms were gracious enough to let the visiting Azungus snuggle their new little bundles of joy while they waited to be released.

After talking with a few of the new moms (with the help of a translator) I realized a lot of the women in there were first time mothers. When I asked why this was I was told that all women are encouraged to give birth for the first time in a large hospital. If they choose to have the baby at home, they have to pay a price of one chicken to their local village chief. Since most Malawian families cannot afford the expense of an extra chicken, most women now give birth in hospitals, which has greatly reduced infant mortality rates as well as deaths of women who have complications from child birth. I was also told that all the babies born at the hospital got their first two shots before they were sent home. Hospitals in Malawi certainly have their flaws, power outages cause life saving equipment to become useless and cause fatalities, lack of enough staff, not enough medication, etc., however I was very encouraged to hear what a push this society has made to encourage the safe delivery of their children into this world. You could tell that everyone saw those newborn babies as the future, as their security, and you could see how important they are. 

As I held those little bundles in my arms, I couldn’t help but think of what an awesome God we serve. God has a plan for each of those precious little children. God created them each so perfectly. They may not have been born into the easiest situation here in Malawi, but God will be with them through the highs, lows and plateaus (phrasing courtesy of Dan Merry) of their lives. They will certainly face challenges that children in the United States do not experience, but as I looked into their tiny little faces I couldn’t help but smile and think about what a bright future they are for this country. I am so encouraged, grateful and humbled to serve a God that loves all the little children of the world.