Last week Pat went to a funeral here in Kinshasa. The 26 year old daughter of the bible school director was in a car accident in the fall. Since then she has had lingering injuries including kidney failure. The family has, bit by bit, sold most of their possessions to try and pay for her escalating medical needs. She passed away last week....young, engaged to be married, and most likely having died from something that could have been treated, if she'd been somewhere with better medical care.
Death here is very raw. The most stark contrasts are at the cemetery. Even during the actual burial, there is money to be made. Standing out in the hot, hot sun hawkers mingled through the grieving crowd offering to sell water and bananas. Because of the escalating problem with grave robbers, men are available, for hire, to immediately put a cement slab over the newly buried casket. Sometimes in an effort to mark a grave you will see a small pair of flip-flop sandels........Pat said at least 10 other funerals were happening at the same time.
Life in Africa is not easy........death is not sanitized. We are so thankful for the hope we have in Christ.....death has no victory for Christians.
No comments:
Post a Comment