Today 6 of us set out for an orphanage an hour and a half away from where we are living in Uzhgorod, Ukraine. 3 of us Ukrainian 3 of us North American, all of us with the same objective. To love on children that were placed in an orphanage years before and then forgotten.
At about 4:30pm we approach the large white building, teddy bears line the front windows watching us as we make our way up the front walk.
A little playground sits to our left and a wooden chair swing to our right. We knock and are told that the children are eating and to wait outside, they will be out to play once they are finished. We gather on the chair swing and surrounding grass, waiting for the door to swing open, filling the silence with talking and laughter.
After about 7 minutes of waiting the front door slowly swings open and the moment that we have been waiting for arrives. Four caregivers come out with 2 or 3 children gripping their fingers and hands, there were probably about 10 – 12 of them, all around 3 years old and all ready to have one of us take them and swing them up in the air run down to the grass and begin play time.
What ensued was unforgettable, 2 hours of absolute chaos, filled with screams, squeals of delight, a few tears, and a whole lot of love.
The children were so beautiful, full of life and desperate to be loved. Masha, Jan, Nazar, Edik, Karina, Bohdanka, Anton, Melissa…all of them had their hair cut short, probably to keep lice from becoming a problem. Some had been at the orphanage their whole lives, you could tell from the shape of some of their heads (flattened out in the back) that a few had spent a majority of their first year lying on their backs on their beds, not receiving the care and attention that they needed, but just what was necessary. Some of them had mild disorders, but all of them were joyful little children happy to run and play in the sunshine and grass.
Masha was a crazy little girl, with the most expressive face, and when you called her name she would race towards you and fling her little body into your arms and laugh and scream as you tossed her into the air.
The minute that Edik saw me he walked over and immediately buried his hands in my hair, what ensued was a 30 minute style session.
Bohdanka was a sweet little thing, initially clinging to the hand of one of the caregivers, but it didn't take long before she made her way over to my lap, plopped herself down and began bouncing herself up and down, giggling along with Masha and Edik. She was born with a cleft palate that could have been easily fixed in her first few months, but wasn't. One of the missionaries that we are working with here, Clinton White, is trying to raise funds so that he can send her to a hospital in Hamburg, Germany to have it repaired so that she can have the opportunity to grow up and live a normal life, free of health issues associated with the disorder, and also free of the social and emotional issues that go along with having such a noticable a physical deformity.
Melissa walked around with a pinecone in her hand the whole time, picking up little sticks, flowers, rocks, and leaves and placing them in my hands, every two minutes I received a little gift from her.
At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying,"Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me."
We need to start acting more like these little children, they receive and give love freely, they are accepting of all…no matter their differences, they are full of hope and joy, they are pure in spirit, and they are genuine.
