A Cat in Crisis

August 1st, 2007

Little Meow is our household kitty cat; she is very lovable and playful. Always she lingers around any family member who is cooking, pushing her little head against our legs. She stares at the coal pot, anxiously anticipating any scrap of food we may give her. One morning she was nowhere to be found. Where was cute little Meow?

Then Doris told me the story?. “While it was still dark this morning, I was in the kitchen cooking when I heard a loud banging on my outside door. ‘Who is it?’ I demanded. But no one answered. Then I saw a hand coming through the decorative opening of my closed in porch. This hand grabbed one of my empty pot, rattling it against the wall to make me think that a thief had gotten into my house. The next thing I heard was my kitty cat screaming as someone grabbed her from outside and ran. I sensed there must be a group of robbers, just waiting for me to open the back door ; so I remained inside. But my heart cried as I listened to helpless Meow’s pitiful screeches of pain and fear>” Doris concluded.

Our household was very sad that morning—no little Meow around. What had the robbers done to her? Beaten her? Killed her? Eaten her? We did not know? Then suddenly that afternoon Meow reappeared. Enoch Jr. found her hiding in the branches of a tree, trembling. Gently he brought her down out of the tree and carried her into the house. “Meow is back; she is alive!” Enoch Jr. laughed as he rushed in the front room. I ran to welcome Meow back home, watching with relief as the children lovingly fed her scraps of food. But the more I observed, the more I noticed that little Meow was not the same Meow that I had known yesterday.

Instead, our spunky kitty ate solemnly and did not stay around to cuddle or play, but slowly dragged herself, head hung low and tail between her legs, to a lonely retreat. I saw her slip into a dark closet to bury herself between bags of rice. There she remained for two days, rarely coming out. My heart ached for Meow because I knew she was in shock from the crisis she had recently endured And so my heart aches even more for the youth of Liberia who have suffered through fifteen years of civil war. I know they are still trying to heal from their trauma of pain. Please pray for the CHILDREN OF LIBERIA.