PLEASE NOTE: The following photo is graphic in nature.

In the paper yesterday was this photo accompanied by a horrific story.
The caption read:

A school girl was found bleeding and fight for her life in a Khomasdal riverbed yesterday morning. She had been raped and her throat slit. Magdalena Stoffels, a 17-year-old Grade 11 pupil at Dawid Bezuidenhout High School, did not survive the brutal attack.

My heart pounds in my chest as I write this. There are not perfect words to be said right now, but I wanted to post this for those of you who don't already know about it. I recognize her uniform as that of a school I pass every morning on my way to FHS. I see this kids all the time coming and going from school. Maybe I've even passed by her.

A subsequent article says, "The murder of Magdalena Stoffels robbed Namibia of a quiet, but hardworking young woman, whose future looked bright."

You can read the rest of that article by clicking here.

This is our world. This is the world we are living in. A world that sin has created. It makes me sick and it absolutely breaks my heart. Violence is everywhere. On Tuesday night a fight broke out near Teacher Elizabeth's house. It ended with a man being shot and killed. She heard the whole thing. Can you imagine being a mother of three little ones in a small shack house with absolutely no protection? A bullet could go through those thin walls in an instant.

And it is not just here as you well know. I remember waking up one morning in New Orleans and hearing about 7 murders that happened throughout the city the night before. Even in my own town not too many years ago a girl my age was stalked, beaten, and thrown over a cliff.