Less than 50 cents a day. In a country that I find it hard to eat for less than $5 a day, an entire orphanage of kids is living on less than 50 cents a day per person. LIVING. Not just eating. Clothes, food, education, toiletries, school supplies, gas for a vehicle to get them to school and back each day and run a generator every now and then that is the only source of electricity, plus any other upkeep needed all come out of that. And I really can’t answer the big question of how. I have no idea. All I know is it breaks my heart to know that when I leave here tomorrow the faces that have been painted with joy and laughter for the last three weeks will be stained with tears at our leaving. At our leaving, they cry. Not at the injustice of growing up without a proper family structure. Not for the lack of books and proper teaching tools in their lives. Not even for the lack of something other than rice to eat. They cry when our team, which has only been here 3 weeks, leaves. I can’t get over that. Of all the hardships I know these kids have been through, some from abusive homes, some having been abandoned, and some simply being too much of a financial burden for an impoverished family to bear, what brings them to tears is a short term team leaving after living with them a few short weeks. And that…really gets me.
Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts.
Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me…
Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
I think these kids and this family as a whole have a greater faith than many of us can comprehend. The idea that the next meal may not be affordable isn’t a reality to them, because God has always provided one. Not that the pastor and his staff don’t worry about it, they live right on the line between starving and surviving nearly every day. But through the years God has shown Himself faithful so many times that there is a level of simply accepting that things will be there, somehow. Not in abundance, but they’ll be there. But when we leave tomorrow after being family for the last few weeks, we bring an unknown element, one they’re not used to relying on God for – will He bring into their lives a group of people that they can love the same way and will love them back?
I’ve had similar faith issues. Every time I think I rely on God, He’ll bring something to my attention that I never thought of as something to trust in Him for. Financial provision has been an easy one for me since I was a teenager, but when I realized I was being called to be a leader, it was suddenly a focus on my own shortcomings until I realized I wasn’t trusting that God knew what He was doing. It’s a life long process, learning to rely on Him for more things all the time. But the great thing about it is He really does provide everything you need. Not just what you need to avoid dying in the next 24 hours, but absolutely everything that you need. And so, once again, I find myself praying for people I’ll probably never see again, praying that God will take them in His hands and love them and provide all that they need – knowing unconditional love, both from God and from people, being on the top of that list of needs. Praying and knowing that, with God, anything can happen, anything can be.
