This past week, Matthew, Chelsea, and I were able to go with Rev. Justice to an orphanage about an hour away from Tema. Just to clue you all in, we took about 8 buses/taxis to and from the orphanage- I can now say I am an expert on travel in Ghana J
We arrived at the orphanage and as soon as we stepped out of the taxi, one girl (Dela)- the only child in sight since the rest were at school, came over and grabbed my hand. From the then on she was with us every moment until we left. She was always holding my hand and either Matthew’s or Chelsea’s as well. Since the kids were in school, the head lady took us on a tour of the orphanage. She showed us all the babies, and it took every ounce of self control for Chelsea and I to not hold them- we did not have enough time and it would have messed up their sleeping schedule. It was hard to see all these adorable, precious babies in cribs with not that many people holding or loving them. Then she showed us some of the other places- we got to go see where some of the kids who were blind or disabled were having lunch. When we met them, they were all smiles and it melted your heart! Then we were shown were Dela stayed and there were a couple of other kids there as well. One of the girls was going to come with us, but it was time to eat lunch so she stayed back- Dela on the other hand decided that staying with us was more important than eating at that moment J
Dela had my heart when I first met her. She gave Chelsea and I hair ties she had on her wrist to wear as bracelets and loved wearing Matthew’s sunglasses and drawing/scribbling pictures in my journal. I never found out how old she was or what she liked to do. Dela cannot speak and something else is not quite right either, but her heart shown through and it touched mine! I cannot say whether she understood what we were saying, but I was so, so blessed to be able to love on her for 30 minutes we were there. I have no idea if she would remember any of us if we came back, but she is one precious girl!
Then we were able to go see some of the kids who were at school. As soon as we entered those doors, we were surrounded by kids J All they wanted was our attention and our love. We were only able to stay there for a couple minutes but during those minutes I am sure those kids felt Jesus’ love! I sat down by one girl and as soon as I was on the floor a little boy climbed into my lap and I had a kid on each side of me. Even though we were not there for long, it was an honor to be able to speak life over them. I wish that I could have stayed there all day long! It breaks your heart to see all these kids because you know that they do not get the love and attention they need, but they are far better off than they would have been. Please be keeping all of these kids in your prayers! Be praying for their physical and emotional needs. Be praying that they will know that they are not an accident- that that they are here on earth for a purpose, a chosen and anointed purpose by the God of the universe. That they God of the universe loves them and that they would know Him as their father! I am hoping that we will be able to go back but be praying that people will come into these kids’ lives and speak to them in ways they can understand, especially for Dela, about how much God loves them and that is has not forgotten them- that they are HIS and are never alone!
After that we went to eat lunch (meat pies) at a place right next to the orphanage and ran into two girls who are volunteering their time there. One is studying abroad and is from Michigan and the other is from England and is volunteering for 6 months. Both are not Christians and it was interesting to see their perspective on what we are doing- how good it will look on a resume, etc. and how cool to do what we do, but they did not get the TRUTH behind it all- Jesus. I know some seeds were planted in those two girls and I know they left with some thoughts in their heads and hearts about what we were doing. Please be praying for them as well- God is knocking on their hearts and His arms are reaching out for them!
