Faith and I stand out in the open-air hallway staring down at the street below. She glances at me then quickly back down at the street to watch the people, autos, motos, and the occasionally cow or water buffalo go by. In these moments she is calm. I watch her watching the street and wonder what she is thinking about. Or really how much of the world she is able to comprehend. Faith is autistic and at times quite a handful. We (my team) have learned that watching the street calms her down. So I try to spend as much time with her out in the hallway. Our time is mostly quite, other than her coughs, yells, and little sounds she makes as she interacts with life around her. Spending time with Faith hasn’t always been like this. Lets just say there was a lot, A LOT of trial and error.The first couple days at Sarah’s Covenant Homes Faith was completely overwhelming to my entire team.
Faith has been raised in orphanages all her life. That has led her to some pretty strong and unruly habits. The biggest bad habit is everything is a game to get attention. So when she throws a toy at one of her sisters and you tell her no, she laughs. Then she tries to do it again because to her she is winning the game to get your attention whether good or bad. Once she gets a rise out of you she will keep pushing that button until you are completely frustrated. Also the fact that she cannot speak or really understand english just compounds the frustration.
But instead of shying away from her I sort of dared myself to figure out how to love her. I wanted to understand her a more and to see her real personality. So I made myself hang out with her and I gave her all my attention when we were together. Don’t get me wrong, there have been (and still are) some pretty rough moments when I don’t know what to do. There are even some times where I had to step away. But I learned so much about Gods grace and love by stepping up and learning to love her.
I’ve learned that prayer works – my entire team has been praying for Faith, her sisters, and the whole ministry. We have seen movement with all the girls. For example, Faith doesn’t hit, shove or bite as much as she used to. She is calmer in general and can handle more structured play times.
I’ve also learned that Faith is beautiful and loved by God. Yeah she isn’t cuddly or ‘easy’ to love. But once I spent more time with her I was able to see past her disabilities and see her as a 13 year old girl who just wants to play and be loved. She isn’t a cute baby and she has a tendency to hit. But God made her with a distinct personality that I have started to see in the past couple days. She is a perfectionist. She notices everything around her and if anything is out of place she will move it to where she wants it.
I have also learned what ‘loving the least of these’ looks like. In India, Faith is considered the lowest of the low. Having a kid with disabilities is considered having bad karma. That means a lot of kids with disabilities are given up because families don’t want to have bad karma. Also, people with disabilities are considered pretty worthless because they can’t function on their own. Without Sarah’s Covenant Homes I honestly can say I have no idea what quality of life Faith would have.
So I dare to love her too. How you ask? Well I have an idea – She isn’t supported, so you should be her supporter. Prayer for her, donate some of your money so that she can be provided for. That includes medical, food, living, schooling and whatever else she needs. Why should you? I mean she probably won’t ever thank you and she lives worlds away, but she is fearfully and wonderfully made by our Creator who loves her deeply. I think thats a pretty good reason. Click here to donate.
If you feel lead to finically support Faith, please concat me directly so that we can update the website accordingly. ([email protected])
Want to her more about Faith? All my teammates have something to say about her. You should check out their blogs too 🙂
Want to know more about Sarah’s Convent Homes? Thanks for asking here is their website.
