May 2026 - Broken Stories, Faithful God

Today started around the breakfast table with the team.

Before the day could take us anywhere, it first drew us together.

All eleven of us gathered for Bible study, and Matt and Akika opened up with a honesty that set the tone for everything ahead, sharing their sin, their struggles, and how their journey through it all had led them to the feet of Jesus.

There is something about a testimony that cuts through the surface of things.

When someone shares not just where they are but how they got there, the room changes.

You see each other differently.

And what struck us most was this: while every story in that room was different, every story led to the same God, one who draws people to Himself and remains faithful through every season of life.

It was the perfect preparation for what awaited us, because our Holy Home Visits that afternoon would ask the very same thing of us, to sit with people in their struggle, hear their story, and together fix our eyes on Christ.

With the morning's testimonies still fresh, we packed into the vehicle and made our way back to Mt Moriah for another day in community.

When we arrived, there were fewer children present than on our first visit, but it was great to see some familiar faces from our prior visit. There were also new children and different parental caregivers (PCGs) present, which reminded us again of the size and complexity of the community being supported.

Next came the part of the day that would stay with us longest, splitting into five groups for Holy Home Visits, where we had the honour of sitting with Primary Caregivers and hearing their stories.

One group sat with three women, each carrying a story shaped by abandonment.

A mother raising her three children alone. A friend she had welcomed in, herself fleeing abuse, now caring for five children of her own.

The pain in the room was real and present, but so was the strength of the women carrying it.

These women had faced things that are difficult to put into words, and yet they continue to persevere, protect, and show up for their children every day in difficult circumstances . "the Lord is close to the brokenhearted" Psalm 34:18

Another group sat with a caregiver who had known more than her share of pain.

Living with her mother and raising seven children from two different relationships, she had fled to her mother's home to escape years of violence at the hands of both men.

Despite everything she had endured, both men had abandoned her and their children. One had since passed away. Neither had offered any support.

Two of her youngest children receive meals and care from the care point, but it was the baby she held throughout the visit that weighed most heavily on the group's hearts.

The child was visibly malnourished. As she tried to feed her baby, it became clear she was unable to produce milk, not because she didn't want to, but because she herself had not had enough to eat.

She was distraught. And so were we. Many at the visit sat with her in tears.

Scripture was shared, and Audres, a Hands at Work African leader, opened up about his own story, growing up without knowing his father, and how encountering Christ had transformed his life.

When the group gently asked her what she was thinking as she listened, she cried and said she was worried for her child, that there was no food, that her life was very hard, and that she prayed God would change it.

We wept with her as she wept.

There was no lightness as the group left that home.

The group left quietly, but with a shared urgency to flag what they had seen with the Hands at Work leaders before the day was out.

From here as we brought the situation to the Service Centre Leaders and Regional Support Team of Hands. After discussions with leaders, a plan was put in place, a clinic visit for the newborn, and support for the mother to engage in income-generating activities with accountability alongside her.

Please join us in prayer for this woman and her family as we are trusting God in her situation to redeem her situation, restore the emotional and physical health of herself and her children.

Across the other groups, the theme of abandonment continued to surface.

One team was welcomed by a male caregiver who had himself been abandoned by his wife, a quiet but important reminder that brokenness and pain do not discriminate. Behind every story we heard that day, regardless of gender, was the same ache of being left behind, and the same need for a God who stays.

Back at the life centre, the team gathered for lunch before the afternoon took a beautiful turn.

Team members Sneha and Scarlet had prepared a short devotion from Psalm 127, originally intended for the children.

But as the day had unfolded the way it had, it was the caregivers and PCG's who were seated before them instead.

The message they shared was was simple but powerful ...

"Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from Him." Psalm 127:3

For caregivers who had spent the morning sharing stories of hardship, abandonment, and the daily weight of caring for children largely on their own, these words carried a significance.

It was a reminder of how God sees the children in their care, not as burdens, not as consequences, but as precious gifts, deeply valued, and deeply loved.

And perhaps just as importantly, it was a reminder that the God who calls children a reward has not forgotten and will not forget the ones caring for them.

The afternoon closed with the team and the children, playing and laughing together before the time came to say goodbye and make the journey back to the farm.

An early night followed as we arrived back to Kachele Farm, with a 7:00am departure in the morning, everyone needed to be packed and ready for the next leg of the trip.

But as the day wound down, one thing stayed with us.

Behind every child is a story.

Behind every caregiver is a story. And behind every story is a God who continues to work, redeem, restore, and sustain them in some of the most difficult circumstances.

Today we saw that up close.

Please pray with us that the need we witnessed, both theirs and our own, for Christ would stay with us long after we return home. The contents of this media represent the sole views and opinions of the author, not of Hands at Work or any other groups or persons.