Being on this race for 11 months, traveling around the world, will expose you to a lot of new experiences. Some easy, but most are difficult. The race also allows you to meet some amazing people from all over the world – in all walks of life. I’ve met some of the most selfless, most loving, dedicated, and most faithful people that I’ve ever met. Take Helen for example.
Hellen is the current director at CICRIN, the orphanage where my team is serving for the month. Helen cares for 20 orphans, from a 1 year old up to 22 year olds who came from family members who either abused them, mistreated them or literally left them to fend for themselves. And she’s been doing this for almost 20 years.
Twenty years ago, Hellen left her home country of Costa Rica for a three month getaway. After finishing college, she left to process life after her father passed away. She joined up with some friends who were running an orphanage in Nicaragua. Helen is fluent in Spanish and English, so she decided to lend her linguistic skills by serving as a translator at the orphanage. She spent 3 months serving the Lord there, helping out her friends, and falling in the love with the kids. But at the end of the 3 months, she was ready to go back home to Costa Rica. Her friends who ran the orphanage had an emergency that came up and told her they had to return to the States permanently and would have to close the orphanage unless there was someone who would stay and care for the kids. They asked her to consider staying.
She immediately said no. She had no interest in staying in Nicaragua and definitely not alone and wanted to go back home to Costa Rica to be with her family, her friends and to continue down the path she was establishing for herself. She prayed that God would not make her stay. But after spending time in prayer, it was undeniable what God was calling her to do. She didn’t want to hear it, but God’s voice was very clear and he was leading her to stay.
So, she decided to trust God and stay for a few more months until He raised someone else to come and take over for her. Seeing how she had no idea how to run an orphanage. I mean, she was only a translator, fresh out of college.
That was almost 20 years ago. And Helen is still at the orphanage. She is a single woman who has devoted herself and her life by giving it away. Her love and obedience for Christ drastically altered the course of her entire future. It’s funny how when we make ourselves available for God to use however he wants. When we give over control to him – how he equips us for things we never thought we were capable of ever doing.
Helen has transformed CICRIN into a beautiful home for the orphans and the kids call her Momma Helen. CICRIN has become her home as the orphans have become her kids. She has to deal with the politics of operating an orphanage under a government who adds a complicated laundry list of requirements every year just to keep the orphanage open. Under the new government, about 11 orphans have been sent back to their abusive uncaring family members in the last year. We’re praying that the government shows her and the orphanage favor and allows the kids to remain at CICRIN and receive the love, education and care they’ve been receiving for some many years at the orphanage.
Twenty years ago, Helen prayed that God wouldn’t make her stay. Now, Helen prays that God would never ask her to leave.
She receives volunteers almost every month who come and help construct schools, better schools, build dormitories for the kids, feeding centers for the children in the local community. She relies on volunteers to come and help out with the construction projects, which often take years to finish because of the lack of volunteer staff.
She used what she had. A second language and God transformed her life which in turn has dramatically changed the lives and futures of 20 + kids in Nicaragua.
You don’t need to have the skill to be used by God. He simply wants people who love him, trust him, and are willing to make themselves available for him to use. Maybe your at a point in life where you need some direction. Maybe you don’t know what to do with your time off. Maybe you have gifts and talents that you don’t get the opportunity to use. Or maybe you’re tired of the rat race and ready to help someone else in need.
You don’t need to be a superstar with all the talent and skill to be qualified. Just be available. Hitting some nails, mixing and pouring cement, laying brick for walls, making rebar doesn’t require you to be a master constructionist in order to qualify for the job. Maybe you’re tech savvy and know how to design websites. Maybe you like to cook and want to feed some hungry orphans. Maybe you’re a teacher, an artist, a doctor, or a lawyer and want to offer your services to those who are less fortunate. Maybe you like playing games like duck-duck-goose or soccer and you like being with kids. Maybe you’re ready to exercise your philanthropic muscle and make a corporate gift to some needy cause. Or maybe you’ve heard God call you to something and you’re running the other way.
Cicrin from natalie montgomery on Vimeo.
