I can still remember the first time I met Marrillien (pronounced Mar-il-leen).  I was transporting the ladies that come to our weekly Hope and Healing meeting. Most all of these lovely women are HIV positive, many who come are quite sick and in the later stages of AIDS.  They seldom get any care or attention in the locations where they live, and some are even cut off socially from the rest of the community because of their condition.  I constantly marvel at the love that Jody and Patty give week to week.  They usually prepare a healthy meal since so many don't eat regularly and then lunch is followed by a time of worship and personal ministry.  Jody and Patty are so devoted to their ladies, checking up on those who are sick, making sure that they get something to take home out of my garden, stuffing a 50 or a 100 rand into their pocket, it's something I wish you all could see. 

Anyway, I couldn't help noticing Marrillien.  She is small and always has a sweet expression on her face.  When we first met, she was shy and quiet, and didn't really say too much.  She is HIV positive.  In her arms, she held her little 4 year old son, Keith.  Sadly, Keith was very sick too.  He also had AIDS.  Little Keith was so handsome with huge sad eyes.  He never smiled and usually just laid in his mothers arms, too weak to run or play with the other children.  Week after week he seemed to just waste away.  You could see the heartbreak and worry in his mothers eyes.  While Marrillien was getting stronger every day, little Keith was not, and in February of this year he died at the hands of this horrible disease that's taking the lives of one in three Africans!  I constantly battle between deep frustration  and overwhelming sadness when I think about the countless destinies that go unfulfilled in this country.  It's sometimes just too much to bear when you see and live with it day after day.

"Little Keith"

After Keith's death, we all wondered how Marrillien would survive.  Her life was so wrapped up in her little boy.  Would she be able to go on, or would she slip into depression followed by more sickness?  My questions were answered a few weeks later during church.  African worship is sometimes hard to describe.  It's powerful, of course, but there's something more.  There's a passion that's birthed in extreme suffering, injustice, and pain that most of us don't know too much about.  As the music played and the voices rose in worship that morning, something happened that I had never seen before.  Out from where she had been standing, came Marrillien.....dancing!  Instantly it was obvious that this was an act of sacrificial worship between her and her God alone.  I didn't know if I should even watch.  There was something holy about it.  As she danced, you could feel heaven come down and fill her soul.  As she danced, she was transformed!  Beautiful, radiant, full of joy!  I felt the tears filling my eyes, and I know I wasn't the only one.  I couldn't help wondering what was in store for this incredible daughter.  It wasn't long before my questions were answered.

Marrillien was reborn!  It seemed like she became a new person overnight!  Instead of sadness hanging over her life, she was ministering to all of us with an infectious joy, going from person to person hugging and greeting everyone she saw.  Recently, she has taken to calling me her "father" and literally explodes into my arms to greet me with a hug and much laughter whenever she sees me!  I love it!  Suddenly, she's so full of life!  And still, almost every Sunday, she leads the dancing.  She's almost always the first one to dance her way to the front, and then make "the dancing circle" that the Xhosa and Colored people like to do. Whenever I watch her I still feel amazed. 

But that was just the beginning.  About this same time we began to see more of Marrillien's husband, also named Keith.  They are both Xhosa, and like many Xhosas, they were living together without a formal marriage because Keith was not able to pay "lobola", which is the price paid to the bride's father for the right to marry his daughter ( It can be as many as 12 cows or more! ).  We watched as the conviction of the Holy Spirit was gently persuading them that it wasn't right for them to continue to live together as husband and wife.  After several conversations with Ps. Dallas and Jody, they made the decision to get formally married and so they arranged separate sleeping quarters for the next few months!  It's hard to convey how truly major this decision was.  It's so common here for couples never to marry, and just go on living together.  It was then that the married couples in our church sprang into action.  You must remember that there are still huge walls between the Blacks and the Coloreds here.  Racism isn't just Whites vs. Blacks, but also between Blacks and Coloreds and even between Black and Black, eg. Xhosa vs. Zulu.  Anyway, our married couples, who are mostly Colored decided that Keith and Marrillien (who are Black) were going to have a REAL wedding!  They organized everything!  A beautiful ceremony with Ps. Dallas officiating and a full sit down dinner for all the family and quests.  Patty and I had already arranged a wedding dress.  Our daughters, Kristi and Misty, had shipped their wedding dresses to us to use if we needed them and Marrillien looked stunning in Misty's beautiful dress!  Keith looked handsome in Leon's suit and my shirt and tie.  It had to be the event of the year!!  The spirit of family filled the whole room.  How could there be such sadness in February and such joy in September?  Keith's traditional Xhosa family couldn't believe the love they felt during the wedding.  They came with their guard up, nervous about these Christians at The Storehouse ( our Church ), and left completely undone by God's love.  What more could God possibly do?  We didn't have to wait long to find out.

Shortly after the wedding an amazing thing happened.  Keith and Marrillien live in a small shack in the location (see above).  One day, a few of the kids in the church showed up just to hang out.  They had never really done this before. Then, the next day there were a few more, this time from the location itself, then a few more, and a few more.  Young people of all ages were mysteriously being drawn to their home.  First 5, then 10, then 20....and now?  As many as 25 - 30 are coming!  Day after day!  They love to just hang out, and play, and visit right there in Keith and Marrillien front yard.  And guess what?  Marrillien is teaching them to dance!  Her laughter and joy is contagious as she mothers all these precious lives.  Keith is now the father figure for that whole community of African children.  I'm telling you, it's a beautiful story.  Here's a couple who found Christ at the lowest point in their lives, the loss of their precious little boy....yet they found new life, fresh hope, restored joy, the favor of the Lord, and children!  Lots and lots of children!  You really couldn't ask for a better Christmas story!

 Marrillien

Dear friends, let me encourage you.  I know that many of you have struggled this year.  Things have been tough, and you've wondered if you were going to make it.  Some of you have also suffered a loss.   Let me assure you,  you will dance again!  Let the above picture of Marrillien minister to you right now.  God has a plan, even for those things that seem totally contradictory.  You can trust Him with your life for He still gives "beauty for ashes and the oil of joy for mourning."  Please know that our family is thinking of you and wishing you all so much love at this Christmas season.