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BY THE SUMMER OF 2005,
2005年夏天，
the Reverend Richard Joyner of Conetoe Chapel Missionary Baptist Church
小镇传教浸信会的牧师——理查德·乔伊纳
realized he was conducting funerals twice a month
意识到自己一个月主持两次葬礼
—a startling number given his town's tiny population.
——考虑到小镇人口稀少，这个数字令人吃惊。
Nearly 300 souls call Conetoe home.
将近300位死去者的灵魂在这里安息。
The predominantly African American hamlet is situated in North Carolina's Edgecombe County,
这个以非裔美国人为主的小村庄位于北卡罗来纳州的埃奇康比县，
where a quarter of households live below the poverty line
四分之一的家庭生活在贫困线以下
and heart disease kills more 20- to 39-year-olds than do car accidents.
20到39岁死于心脏病的人数大于车祸死亡人数。
"I've closed too many coffins on young people," Joyner, 64, says.
64岁的乔伊纳说：“我为年轻人盖的棺材太多了。”
The pastor found it difficult to comfort the grieving:
牧师发现这种悲伤情绪一直难以治愈：
"How do you tell someone who's just lost a child to poor nutrition that this was God's plan when it was totally preventable?
“你如何告诉一个刚刚因为营养不良而失去孩子的人，这是上帝的计划，而这是完全可以预防的?”
Who would hang out with that God?"
谁会和上帝在一起?”
Driving home one day and beginning to doubt his own beliefs,
一天乔伊纳开车回家，开始怀疑自己的信仰，
Joyner pulled over and began to pray.
乔伊纳把车停在路边，开始祈祷。
"I heard a voice saying, 'Maybe you'd get further with your eyes open,'"
“我听到一个声音说，‘也许你睁开眼睛就能走得更远。’”
he remembers.
他回忆道。
He looked around, and all he saw was farmland. It gave him an idea:
他环顾四周，除了荒凉的土地外一无所有，他突然想到一个主意：
Get the kids involved.
让孩子们参与进来。
