We went to church last Sunday at one of the orphanages. It was broken. It was beautiful. We all crowded into one little overcrowded, overheated room with dozens of little ones and other believers from around Delhi. There were maybe 30-40 of us. There is something incredibly powerful about church with orphans. It teaches you so tangibly what it means to be adopted as sons and daughters of God, our Father, our Daddy in heaven. I sat there holding a beautiful baby girl that recently came to the orphanage as I listened to sons and daughters of the Most High talking to their Father. I could just imagine the Lord saying to each of them, “You, yes YOU, are mine.” And it breaks me as I realize the power of the God of the universe saying that to one little person.
After the service was over, I wandered over to the girls’ room in the orphanage and found a group of girls sitting on the ground playing and one Asian woman sitting on one of the tiny bunk beds chatting with some of the girls on our team. You make think I am crazy, but for some odd reason I now feel more drawn to fellow Asian looking people that I come across than ever before in my life. Maybe its because I’ve become so used to not seeing people that look like me since living in Colorado, or because I’ve become used to being the only Asian on the team, squad, etc. So I was curious about her and her story.
Her name is Sutni. She is from Kathmandu, Nepal. Adopted and raised by a western woman and her Indian husband. She now lives by herself. She wouldn’t tell us how old she was. She simply said she was old. She was the most beautiful, old Nepapli woman I have seen. She has lived alone, never been married, and has been traveling back and forth between Nepal and India. Her spirit was crushed, she was hurting and alone. Immediately, God brought the first verse in the Beatitudes to my mind: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the Kingdom of God is theirs.” We prayed over this petite, beautiful daughter of God. We prayed His words, His promises, His truth over her. Gave her hugs and said goodbye.
It hit me that sometimes we just need to be reminded that we are His. He says, ” Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored and I love you.” Isaiah 43:4. He traded Jesus for Sutni because she is precious to Him. He traded Jesus for you and me because we are precious to Him. That is just the craziness of His love for us.
