The Least of These
This past year and a half has been a pretty tough period in my life. Many of you know my mom passed away on Christmas day of ’09. My dad passed away in March of ’03 and getting adjusted to life with no parents has been a difficult journey.
I have felt like an orphan… that I didn’t “belong” to anyone anymore. But through a recent trip I made to Africa, the Lord opened my eyes to show me the realities of being a true orphan!
In March this year, I went to Jinja, Uganda with an organization called Visiting Orphans. Their mission is to awaken the body of Christ to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the 163 million orphans in the world by visiting them, loving them, and sharing the Father’s heart.
Through this great ministry, I visited three orphanages with a team of 18 people from the U.S. We did a VBS with the kids there, dancing, singing and bringing God’s Word.
And it was at those orphanages that my heart was broken for the plight of true orphans!
Prior to our trip to Uganda, our team had done some fundraising and pulled together $10,000 in donations! I had no idea how far that amount of money could go in Uganda until I saw the results!
We had ordered things in advance so the items were waiting for us to hand out when we got there.
For the Canaan Children’s Home, we ordered shoes and socks for all the kids. When we got there, we washed their feet and put those socks and shoes on them – they went berserk! You would have thought we’d given them a million dollars by the way they reacted!
At the Return Uganda orphanage, we gave them new mattresses for their beds. Again, the reaction of the kids to this gift was total elation! We also got them a van.
At another orphanage they were making fabrics using looms to help support themselves. Well, one of their looms was broken and the other one they were using was on its last leg. So we had ordered two new looms for them.
One orphange received a new laptop… and believe it or not, we had enough money left to send four boys to college (the price for that in Uganda is only $500 per person!).
It was a beautiful experience! Seeing these boys and girls with no parents, no home and very little in material possessions, once again made me realize how blessed we are! But they have a joy that is inspiring. When they smile, the whole world lights up! And when you talk about Jesus they start jumping and cheering!
They don’t realize how little they have because that’s all they know. I heard someone say, “They have nothing, but think they have everything. We have everything and think we have nothing.”
Me and Enoch
One little boy, Enoch, really touched my heart. He wanted to go home with me so bad! The last day he asked me “Do you have a boy?” I said, “No, I don’t Enoch.” He responded, ” Would you like to have a boy?”
It hurt desperately to tell him that as much as I would like to have him for a son and give him a home, I travel all the time wouldn’t be there enough to take care of him.
But, through my partnership with Visiting Orphans I will have several opportunities to go and visit him each year.
Jesus said that whatever we do for “the least of these” is the same as doing it for Him. That’s why I am planning a trip to Ethiopia later this month. I want to serve Christ by serving these orphans!
And my heart is full now, knowing that I have a heavenly Father who fills my life with so many blessings I can’t even count them all! I don’t need to feel like an orphan with His Love filling my life!
I hope you’ll pray for me as I travel to bring the Good News to little boys and girls in Ethiopia that are just waiting to see the hands and feet of Jesus as our team serves “the least of these!”