Learning About Real Love

Many of the children growing up in the sewage-lined dirt alleyways of African slums will be sexually violated by a relative or married off at a disgustingly young age to support the family.

AIDS runs rampant through these slums. In 2004, I had the privilege of visiting the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya on a mission trip, where we were asked to give a purity lesson to the children. 

Two Beautiful Girls from Kibera

GET YOUR FAMILY'S FAITH LIFE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

---

Want to get consistent sharing Jesus with your family and know it's making a difference? This 6 Faith Habits to Consistency checklist will give you quick ideas to steadily point your family to Jesus' amazing love.

GET MY CHECKLIST NOW!

At first, I thought they were a little young for the topic, but then I came to learn that their culture was very different from my own. There was a need for them to learn about protecting themselves and waiting to have sex, if it was in their power.

Seemingly naively, one of the children asked me what love was.  I soon realized that this child had never known love.  She learned about it in church, but no one had ever shown her love.  She truly didn’t know.

At the time, I was also struggling to understand what love was, and so this poem was born:

Photo Courtesy of stock.xchng/RiveraRa

The children of Kibera ask an interesting question,
“What is love?”
How can we know? Do we know what love looks like?
I see faces of love.  I know what the Bible tells me love is,
But what about love between a man and a woman?
Should it look and feel different from the love of the Bible,
Or does it just manifest itself in a different form?
Love binds together in perfect unity,
Compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Love is these things and so much more.
It protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres.
It rejoices with the truth.
The only love I can be sure of is this kind of love.
I feel it from God; I know this now.  I trust this.
I feel it from my parents, my sister, my family.
I feel it from my Christian community, my friends.
I know that people of this world will let me down.
I know I’ll be hurt and that’s a result of our sin.
Only on the other side of heaven will I truly know what love is.
So the question the children ask is valid.
It’s not just some childhood question of innocence.
They want to know and recognize the Father’s love.
They want to see it in their lives.
I want to see it too.  I want to experience it fully.
Outside of God’s love, outside of what he’s told me and shown me,
I don’t know love.
I can’t know it, and I don’t think it will be as great.
God promises great things for those who love him.
His love for us saved our souls.

Have you ever questioned what true love is?  What answers have you found, if any? Respond in the comments below.

If you liked this post, check out Hear Their Cries.
Other related posts: Answering the Call and Powerful New Clothes.