Little M, God has hope and a good future for you and he loves you more than you will ever know.
Those were the only words I could choke out as I tore the little guy out of my arms and left him at the orphanage. It was one of the hardest things I have had to do on the race.
We have only been to this orphanage two days. Buy it seemed like I had known this little guy forever. Last week when we arrived I noticed the littlest child there who was shy and honestly didn’t want anything to do with any of us. We all tried to connect with him and got absolutely nowhere. We found out from the owner that he had only been there one week and I’m sure he has been through a lot in his young life. I just kept praying that God would make a way, some sort of breakthrough. At the end of the day I got up to share the gospel with the kids and as soon I started speaking, little M starts running around and making noise. He was quite a distraction. But not a bigger distraction than God could handle. I finished speaking and gave the kids a chance to respond. Nearly all of them accepted Jesus that day, despite the distraction. Though I was so excited about all the kids coming to Christ, I just couldn’t get that little boy out of my heart. During debrief we talked about how there was such a heaviness there and lots of spiritual warfare. Apparently it used to be such a place of hope and now that hope has faded. The name even means “shadow of hope”. I continued to pray for little M throughout the week.
We came back yesterday for our last visit. Something had changed. He was still shy at first, but when I continued to invite him to sit with me and let him play with my watch, he started to warm up to me. He spoke a few English words and we colored together. That was the breakthrough. He got in my lap and was attached the rest of the day. I saw him smile for the first time since we had been there. It was so amazing to see the change. We laughed and played most of the day.
Then it came time to leave.
My heart was broken in two when he cried and I had to peel him out of my arms. Leaving him was so hard.
He finally learned to trust me and then I had to leave. I left in tears, but I also left knowing that Jesus is right there with that precious boy everyday of his life. I pray that he will be protected and comforted. I pray he can find his hope in Jesus and cherish the little love he is shown. I pray he knows how much Jesus loves him and will one day accept him into his life and follow him through all of life’s experiences.
Little M left an impression on my heart. But in Jeremiah scripture clearly states that God has a good plan and a hope and a good future. I pray little M clings to that promise.
I encourage you to pray for him and all the precious kids at the orphanages around the world.
