So we are here in Phnom Penh working at an orphanage called Love In Action. What an appropriate name! This place is the embodiment of those words. The director is a lady affectionately called “Mummy Ruth.” She is from Australia and has lived all over the world doing missions work. She came and established the orphanage here in Cambodia, and currently cares for around 75 children. More children come here for hope and a chance all the time. The children get a safe place to live, education they might not otherwise have an opportunity for, and best of all, the come to know about the love of Christ.
What part do we get to play in their lives? We get to be love in action. We spend our days hanging out with the kids. With so many children and only a a few house moms, there is very little undivided attention to be spread around. For a while, we get to spend time with them and shower them with the attention and love they miss out on with not having parents. These kids are absolutely beautiful. They’re smiles fill you with joy. Their laughter makes you giddy. They use as a jungle gym, a punching bag, a competitor, a friend, a teacher, a mom, and best of all, someone to hug whenever they want to. We get to show them love by playing with them. We get to show them love by teaching them new things like how to play baseball with a cricket bat. We get to teach them more about the love Christ and the character of God. We get to hug them with all or our strength and listen to them giggle. We get to just spend time with them even if it is only for a little while.
How are we so blessed? They love us back with a love that is hard to comprehend. Here we are, strangers from a foreign country who know little to nothing about them, and yet they immediately accept us. They smile every time they see us come down the stairs. We get marauded with high fives and bear hugs every day. They indulge me by throwing a football with me and learning baseball, while still patiently trying to help me get better at volleyball. It makes it easy to not mind the histerical laughter at my less than amazing soccer skills. They still hug us when we are doused with sweat from standing out in the sun for 45 seconds. They draw us pictures, joke with us, carry our groceries up to our apartment for us, tease us about letting us in the gate, and show us incredible amounts of respect that you rarely see from children. When we talk about God, and how Jesus desires us to live, they listen with a deep interest. Then they respond to our questions with knowledge of God that is severely lacking in most children their age. The best part is these kids don’t just talk a good talk like many of the church kids in America. These children walk it in their lives. They care for each other, unconditionally love strangers, respect their elders and spend time in prayer every day. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying they are perfect. They are children who still get rambunctious and mischevious every now and then. However, Ruth has taught them well. She has worked hard to raise these children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. God is doing incredible work here and by a miracle, we get to be a part of it. Thank you Lord. Once again we get to see how God uses the work we intend for serving Him to bless us in return. Not only do we get to put our love in action, we get to be loved through the actions of others.
