A Day to Remember
The rain drizzled as I peered out the window. Just a day during the wet season in Vietnam. I hopped in the van as my team headed out for day of ministry. We had about an hour and a half drive to an orphanage in the village.
Knowing what was about to happen in the van was generally sporadic, on this particular day I settled in next to our supervisor/translator. Phoung began to ask me why I choose to go to Bible school and how I became a Christian. With a great appreciation for quality time, this conversation was not wasted to me. I thoroughly enjoyed sharing my story and getting to know the story of this young Vietnamese man who is passionate about serving God.
Our team arrived at our destination and began to unload the van, noticing that there would not be enough paint brushes for everyone I “mentioned” to Phoung that I wouldn’t mind holding babies instead of painting… A few minutes later he returned and said that some of us could go and hold babies in the nursery.
😀
This particular nursery is divided into two sections and about 20 babies live there. Every time I hold a child is there a sense of joy deep within me. It doesn’t matter if the child pees on me or spits up, when they cry or squirm and try to get away, I don’t love them any less. It is so simple to have an unconditional love for a child.
On a trip like this is easy to become introspective, and I want to process and think about the things that are happening around, most of which are entirely new, but I also need to have a healthy dose of the Father’s love. I need to be convinced of his faithfulness so that as those imperfections come to the surface I can believe that God loves me regardless and that he won’t let me sit in a pool of condemnation but by his grace and I can overcome those weaknesses. That was a side tangent but I think that the picture of holding the babies is incredibly reflective of God’s love.
A couple hours later we walked down the road to a local noodle restaurant. After lunch we went across the street where they serve coffee. This became our daily routine, and though the food was nothing exciting there is something I will always cherish about those normal afternoon breaks.
We headed back to the orphanage where the whole team went to the nursery for the afternoon to spend time with the babies. I was able to get to know one of the nurses during this time. I helped her feed some of the babies and asked her questions about them. There was one very special boy there, I asked her about him and she explained to me that he has Downs Syndrome. He was very content even when the others cried for attention he was patient. I spent a little extra time holding him. It is at moments like that when my heart would break knowing that these children have no parents to help them along their way.
As we piled back in the van for our long drive home I knew that I would sleep well that night. I began to reflect on the goodness of God. His deep love for me and for the children that I encountered daily. His majesty is displayed in the earth and I could see his hand of creation as we drove through the rice fields that evening.
