As briefly stated in my last blog, our team has been working and living in a home with women formerly trapped in the sex industry of India. Part of a larger organization with branches that ministers to four distinct people groups, this home has only been in existence for approximately four years. Another of the branches that was borne decades ago is a home for children whose parents are not capable of adequately caring for them. Some of the children have simply been abandoned by their parents due to a lack of money or love, and some of them have parents seeking help in the other three branches of this greater organization.
After being told about how special these children are, we were invited by the directors of the organization to spend a weekend at the children’s home. I of course expressed immediate interest after hearing that they sound like a choir of angels! The rest of our team jumped at the opportunity as well, so we packed our bags and headed for this home about which we had heard such wonderful things.
Unlike most of my teammates, I had never been to an actual orphanage. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, but I can tell you that I was blown away by what we found in this small building in the countryside of India. The home itself houses approximately 100 children from the ages of four to sixteen, and there was a spirit of joy resting there!
Not only did these children have beautiful faces, but they also had beautiful hearts. I saw their great love for Jesus in the way they treated each other with kindness. I saw it in their worship. I felt it in their prayers. I recognized that these children are not actually orphans. They are children of the King of the universe, and they know it.
From our stay there, I saw that these children have some of the purest faith I have ever seen. They were given the privilege of watching “Cinderella” that afternoon, and while talking with a group of girls after the movie, I asked each of them what their favorite movie is, expecting some Disney film to be the response. I was amazed when each of them in turn said, “The ‘Jesus’ movie!”
They don’t just know about Jesus; they actually KNOW him. They don’t sing songs about him; they sing TO him. He is their hope and their joy. I was given a vision of warriors leading the way into battle as I looked across a sea of hearts connected to the movement of the Spirit. Their prayers were no laughing matter as each of them talked out loud to a God they had come to know as a friend. I wish you could have seen the intensity in their faces as they lifted their requests and praises to the Lord. It brought tears to my eyes.
