"I have two of theses daddy, you can give one to a girl in Sudan."
I told her I would pick out a girl that reminded me of her and give her the other one. A couple days later and many thousands of miles between, we arrived at the remote village of Biong just outside of Bor, South Sudan. One water pump for 17,000 people, mud huts scattered across the landscape, and a few mud brick walls of a school being built. We were greeted by a group of beautiful, curious children, touching our skin and feeling our hair and trying to mimic the words we were saying. Out of all the children, I saw a girl that was a little more shy, about the height of my daughter with beautiful eyes. I gave her the bracelet and showed her a picture of Abigail and told her my daughter had wanted her to have it.
If you look carefully at the girl in the blue shirt with her back to us below and far left above, you'll notice the green bracelet. I've seen that bracelet show up in several other pictures since our trip.
So as the news reports come in of the thousands fleeing, I keep scanning the pictures for that bright green bracelet, wondering what happened to her. She could be my daughter, hiding in the bush, drinking dirty water, fearing for her life and then it hits home.
The faces seem so far removed but that bracelet connects our worlds in a very real way. I'm still praying for that little girl and thousands of others just like her and now so is Abigail.
