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have a whole range of health issues, and the
women are often pregnant and malnourished.
The humble room rented provides shelter for
only a very few. One woman was grateful just
for a chair and water. She sat on one of the
chairs outside the hired room on the street
feeding her child from out of date ‘Tuc’
cracker biscuits from a supermarket, with
water in a bottle from the room, with her
wearing a child’s Mickey Mouse T-shirt. They
are indeed vulnerable people, very easily
abused by the Mafia-controlled gangs who
operate in Sicily with impunity.
Another woman was pregnant from her rapes
experienced in Libya. The child appeared to
be upside down in the womb, requiring
Caesarian section. But with no documents or
money, the crowded hospitals are not inclined
to take in migrants. We did get her into a
hospital where she delivered the child safely.
We were able to give her an NEV New Testa-
ment and Introducing Bible Basics and pray
with her. She was so excited to have these to
read and study. There was graffiti on the walls
of the ward, crucifixes and statues of Mary
everywhere, and the nurses generally didn’t
speak English.
What happens to these children? Some of the
women we baptized were caring for babies of
African women they had taken pity upon, as
often they are just dumped under the bushes
after birth. All this is in the EU... with tourists
flying back on Easyjet talking about the great
time they had on vacation, without a clue as
to what is really going on.
Some of the women had been living in an
unfinished, derelict garage near a beach. After
Bible study at the hired room, we went there
to change and have a final prayer and a few
words before the immersions. As you can see,
in the above photo, all they had was a
discarded piece of plaster board for privacy;
no water, toilet or electricity. They carry
babies on their backs African style.
Despite their total poverty, we were able to
provide white clothes and some hair styling for
their baptisms. We emphasized that despite
what they had been through, they were the
spotless bride of the Lord Jesus and were
giving themselves to the One who so loves
them.
We went from there to the beach, where a
group of about 15 sunbathing white Italians
gathered around us as we did the baptisms.
Usually such local folks have been abusive and
racist, feeling their country is being overrun
by the migrants, but these folks were utterly
Carelinks | Sicily ... continued ~