My team has had the privilege of being able to join with a wonderful couple who are natives of Myanmar. Rick and Anna run an orphanage, a ministry and a missions training school. Rick grew up as a christian, but it was not until 1988 that he was born again in the Lord. His heart burned for the Lord and he knew that he wanted to proclaim the gospel. His proclamation of the gospel has led him to be arrested, his ministry being taken from him and his wife leaving him. But God gave everything back to him and more. Rick has a wonderful wife who loves the Lord now- Anna. Anna grew up a buddhist before coming to know Christ, but now she has the fire of God inside of her. When she prays she cries out to God with groanings and anguish. She is such a servant, is always praying for us, cooking for us and wanting to do our laundry. They have two wonderful children and about 50 adopted Children.
The orphanage has about 35 boys and 14 girls ranging in ages from 6 to 18 with some older kids who have stayed to help out. The kids here are so well behaved; they do their chores, study hard, take care of each other and worship and pray like crazy. We asked Rick, “How do you deal with disciplining these children?” He said, “No need. They don’t get in trouble.” At first that was hard to believe, but after being there for two weeks I can see it. These kids listen very well and are always ready to serve us. They always set the table for us at meal times, bring us food and water and even stand around and wave away the flies. Even after serving us, sadly won’t take the food that we offer to them. At times it was hard for us to see this, because we were getting fed very well, but we know that God will bless these children and the fact that they truly want to serve us.
Rick trusts in the Lord to provide for the orphanage and does not rely on a church or denomination to help him out. People from all over the town and different religions help provide food, clothing and school supplies. They have a wonderful campus with showers, clean toilets, housing, a kitchen, vehicles and a church. They have all of this because God wants to reward their faith and hard work as they care for the orphans. It was very encouraging to be able to talk with Rick and to learn from him and the heart that he has for the children of his orphanage. These kids will go out and change the country of Myanmar. I wish you could join us for just one night of prayer and worship and hear these kids pray for each other, their region, country and the surrounding countries. All of the kids including the young ones sat through a two hour church service on sunday… If that is not evidence of the power of God I don’t know what is!
These kids also know how to have a lot of fun. After prayer and worship each night, we go out and play with these kids. We swing them around, give piggyback rides, wrestle, run around and raise a ruckus. It is so good to be able to see these kids just let loose and have fun. The older kids join in as well to play with the younger kids. We also had the opportunity to serve these kids. One night after prayer and worship we shared the story of Jesus washing his disciples feet and that you must humble yourself. So we were able to wash the feet of the children and pray for them. It was so cool to be able to impart love to these kids and to show them that we cared for them and that God cares for them. Some even shared the next day that God spoke to them through that time.
I thank God for the opportunity to be able to come to this orphanage to serve them as well as learn from them. No matter the language barrier, God’s love can always speak more than we can. I am excited to meet these children again in heaven to hear of all the good things they have done in the name of Jesus.
