To Be Seen

“Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, ‘Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” Genesis 16:13

How many women feel like Hagar in Genesis 16, used, alone and rejected? A mother of one of the boys on our waiting list experienced a similar abuse and rejection, at the hand of her husband.

She was repeatedly forced by the father to abort three pregnancies, nearly losing her life the third time. The father wouldn’t even understand what she was going through.

When she became pregnant a fourth time with Elvis, the father refused to acknowledge the child was his and once again wanted her to abort him. She was rejected, left to wander to her parents’ home where she stayed until she delivered her son.

After Elvis was born, she came back her own home and found that her husband had married another woman. He forced her to accept and live with this new wife who continually threw bitter words at her. She was so humiliated she nearly committed suicide during this painful time.

When she could no longer endure the abuse, she left and had to figure out how to support her five children on her own. She does whatever casual labor she can find to feed them and pay some school fees, but struggles deeply. The father refuses to accept Elvis as his child, offering no support.

Her plea to God is for her children to study hard and be great people tomorrow, knowing that education can provide a bright future. Our hope is that Elvis and his mother would know that God sees them and loves them, just as God saw and provided for Hagar in her greatest time of need.

Have you considered joining a child’s educational journey through sponsorship? We have not used Elvis’ full name here as it is a very sensitive story, but if you would like to sponsor him, please email us at sponsor@hopeafricakids.com