I’m writing this a couple days into month number two, yet the feelings and moments I am going to talk about are fresh enough that it could have been yesterday.
Our last full night in Quiche’, Guatemala our whole squad was invited to Casa De Mi Padre, an orphanage that one of the teams had been working on the whole month. As I stood in the pouring rain soaking wet, waiting for a van to take us I remember thinking “this better be worth it.” What I saw that night, what I felt that night, is something that I will NEVER forget. Casa De Mi Padre is one of those places where you know beyond any doubt that God dwells in this place.
From the bus stop we all ran in the rain to this big ol' black metal gate, blocking any view of what lays inside. As the gate opened I remember thinking that we are absolutely in the wrong place, this is no orphanage. I saw this huge beautiful building, a building that seemed so foreign and out of place compared to all of the buildings we had been seeing. I will be honest; I did not have high expectations. What I saw though was something out of a dream, what I saw was a place that did not really fit with our concept of “reality,” definitely not the reality I had come to know about Guatemala. And then I went inside…
I walked in with a couple other people to see tables laid out for all of the squad. The place was lit up and bright, my mood and my spirit were immediately lifted. The place was beautiful; even on “American” standards the place was beautiful. The kids where running around with these huge smiles and hugging everyone. Seriously, they were hugging everyone. There was not a single person left that night without receiving numerous hugs or some abundance of affection.
Shane, the man who started the orphanage, shared a bit of his story and how the home came to be as we ate our spaghetti dinner. Shane’s story was one of trial and error; his story was one of complete obedience. I won’t go into much detail about him as a person; I will just say that what he is doing is directly God given and inspirational.
What I will NEVER forget are the kids. I don’t remember all of their names, but I remember their faces as clear as day. I will remember the smiles, I will remember the hugs, I will remember the songs, I will remember the dancing, and I will remember the joy! I will remember wanting to break down and weep as I saw how happy these kids were. These kids who at one point lost everything, these kids who have been beaten and abused in horrific ways. And there they stood right before me with that pure joy and innocence that can only be found in children. Casa De Mi Padre is not an orphanage, it is a home were family resides. Those children do not live in an orphanage; they live in the "House of Their Father". I seriously will never get over the joy that I saw and felt in that place, I’m tearing up just thinking about it.
God is so good. God cares so much about His sons and daughters. He loves those who may have given up on love. He loves those who have never received loved and don’t know what love even is. He loves us so much that He calls people like Shane, people like you and me, to go out and make a difference. He loves us so much that he equips us in ways to change the lives of others in such a beautiful and drastic way. And man oh man am I ready to live in that kind of love! Praying that you are going to be ready for it too, cuz it’s coming one way or another.
