This is Lina. I met her in the bush bush in a small village, about two hours away from Pemba, Mozambique. She's about eight or nine years old, but we're not sure. Even she doesn't know how old she is. She told the translator she was one when he asked her. Maybe one is the only number she knows.
During our three-day outreach to the bush, Lina was the only person God really drew my heart to. On the first night, the team set up our tents in the "yard" of the pastor. There was already a church planted in this village, but apparently no one from the Iris base had visited for a couple years. We drove the cameon (the open, flat bed truck) to a central location in the village and set up a small portable generator, which powered a projector and one bright orange flood lamp. We showed an old Jesus film, dubbed over in Makua, their tribal language, on a sheet that hung in the back of the truck. There was quite a crowd.
While Heidi Baker was speaking, prompting our team to pray for people with different types of sicknesses, I noticed Lina standing in front of me. I noticed the big scabby rings on her forehead and cheek, so I prayed for her, but I didn't know what it was. Later, I brought her to Heidi, who told me it was a nasty case of ringworm that had been let go for far too long. I didn't know ringworm could get that big!
Lina stayed with me for a while after the video and our team's presentation. I gave her my leftover African spaghetti (a huge ball of greasy, mushy noodles with some kind of oil sauce). I pulled one of our few translators aside to help me talk to her some more. She was very quiet and sweet. It was hard to get her to talk. I asked the translator how to say "I love you" in Makua. When I told her, I saw her smile for the first time. I called her "Lina Orerra" (beautiful Lina). She said she had come by herself that night, and she would bring family members with her the next day. I wanted to help her get some cream for her ringworm, but I needed an adult that would put it on her every day.
The next day, she came back, and eventually her uncle showed up and said he would take her to the clinic (two villages away) and put the cream on her. So I gave him all the money I'd brought to the bush (which wasn't very much, but hopefully enough) and was able to ride halfway with he and Lina. He seemed to love her very much.
Even when Heidi met her, she remarked that Lina must be well taken care of, because her hair had been done, and her shirt carefully scrubbed clean, but that they must've just not had enough money to buy the cream. We went to a different village to do another presentation on the second night, and the next morning, we left right after breakfast, so I didn't get a chance to see Lina after she visited the clinic. I trust that her uncle was able to buy the cream for her, though. The bush was a challenging experience for me, but meeting Lina made it worth it. If God had brought me all the way to Mozambique just so that one little girl could be noticed and healed, it would be worth it. 
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