Friday, a couple
of my teammates and I went to the orphanage again. In just about
every situation I face, I tend to go for the most challenging
opportunity possible in it. Taking on The World Race is a prime
example! In light of that, one little girl in particular stood out to
me on this trip to the orphanage. I had seen her during our last
visit, but she had made a face at me and verged on scream-crying as I
approached her (which is totally unusual for kids with me)…so I
just left her alone then. However, God seemed to lay her on my heart
when I saw her upon returning. She was on a merry-go-round, and just
like last time, she retreated and resisted as I approached. I asked
God how I could love on her, because she wouldn’t let me (or anyone
else for that matter) near her, and I couldn’t verbally reassure her
due to the language barrier. So I just slowly, cautiously, reached
out my hand to her (much like you do an approaching dog) and gently
rocked the merry-go-round back and forth. After a few minutes, she
began to soften towards me. She had a pail and shovel in her hand for
playing in the sandbox and kept alternating throwing each to the
ground. I would patiently pick them back up and hand them back to
her. After several times of doing this, one of the YWAM staff guys
that was with us told me to stop (not that I was doing anything
wrong, but to test the little girl). When she threw her shovel to the
ground and I didn’t pick it up, I think she was shocked. Once she
realized I wasn’t going to pick it back up, she began to climb off of
the structure to retrieve it herself. We had been told that we could
take the kids’ hands and walk them around the nearby parking lot, so
I took a chance with her and reached for her hand. She looked up at
me, slowly took my hand, and we began walking. When I went through
babysitting training several years ago, one thing I learned was that
kids about her age like to be spun around and to try that if a child
is being difficult to connect with. So, I led her to one of the
benches, helped her up on it, had her walk the length of it, then
picked her up, spun her around as high in the air as I could get her,
and set her down. She squealed with joy! We walked around some more,
and I did the same thing with her on a few sets of stairs. She became
more and more animated each time. I also started bunny-hopping
alongside her, and this thrilled her as well. She and I had so much
fun together during the hour we spent playing with the kids, and it
was heart-wrenching to have to give her back to the staff,
scream-crying again, as we left. But it was beautiful to be able to
bring life to this scared, hurting little girl for at least a short
period of time. God’s love truly does break down walls.
But we were
gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own
children. So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to
impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives,
because you had become dear to us.
— 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8
