I Like Nuns.

Sister Ermenia. She is in my language class- from Italy, barely speaks English, and is learning Nyanja in order to better serve her patients at the main hospital in a southern border town. She is clearing working so hard to get this language down, and simultaneously itching to get back to her ministry. When asked by a classmate how she was doing, she simply replied 'I want a scalpel and to get back to the theater' (Zambian phrase for an OR). The town where she works is known to be a rough place, where truckers en-route from Zimbabwe to Zambia await customs clearing. From what I have heard, there is no lack of sex-workers and mowa (alcohol) in this town, and so it would seem Sister Ermenia has plenty of good reasons to get back to work.

Then, there is Sister Mariola, who runs a children's home here in Lusaka. She has been doing so for 27 years, and so clearly loves each child living there- as do all of the Polish Sisters who work there with her. They have developed an incredible program- counseling and strengthening families so that children can remain at home, working out caring foster situations with relatives, and then taking the children who have nowhere else to go. They don't turn anyone away...not even kids who have disabilities. She clearly won the heart of Sam, Maggie, and Mollie when we visited last week- her wit and charm proved a magnet for all three of them. Sam even snuck in a few good hugs and a couple smooches on the cheek before we left.

And though I don't fully know or understand what they believe or the commitment they have made- the actions of these two women have shown to me the beauty of a life given to God. In the caring for of patients with HIV in a dangerous African border town, and in the taking in of hundreds of orphaned and sick children, they both have spurred me on in the giving away of my life for the sake of the poor. Another fav nun of mine once said...

'Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.'
-Mother Teresa

For those of you who think nuns to be historic relics of some past age- I've got news for you- they're not, and they are gettin' things done in the name of Jesus. I only hope to get to meet and know more of them, and to be continually challenged by the lives they live for others, and more importantly, the lives they don't live for themselves.