This month, my (new) team and I live in a children’s home, working with abandoned children and teens age 4-18 who have disabilities. And by working with, it looks something like sitting next to a child in a wheelchair and trying to get him or her to touch/play with a toy for half an hour, or reading a book to the more active ones, with certainty that they might not even have understood what you read to them.
This morning, my team had a short worship sesh right before we go into ministry, and I brought that to one of the boys I was with today. I found out that he’s 16 years old, but there’s no way you can tell because he drools in his wheelchair, he cannot support himself physically, he’s tiny compared to a typical 16 yo in the States, and his face says age 12 at most. Anyway, I was with him for a while in the morning, trying to engage with him. And then something hit and I started singing worship songs to him. And behold, he turns his head towards me, as if I was announcing the most important news in the whole planet, he looked at me, and smiled. I proceeded to sing and he and his friend next to him paid attention and smiled. His friend especially loved the songs and laughed with his tongue out. At one point, while I was singing Phil Wickham’s ‘Always Forever,’ my boy looked up and stared at the ceiling, and I asked him,
“What are you thinking?”
His head swaying side to side…
“What do you see?”
His gaze continued to focus on the ceiling…
“What is so funny?”
Silence…
“Is God telling you something right now?”
He laughed and drooled, still looking up.
As I asked him these questions, I felt a sense of peace and greater, deeper love for him and all the kids that we serve, especially the ones that are immobile and unresponsive. I feel like the more unresponsive the children here are, the more they are actually engaging with God. It’s so easy to love, because a child’s heart and purity reflect who God is and His love more than anyone I know.
That brings me closer to a state of trust and joy because I know that God delights in these children who have disabilities and are abandoned, and as He does in me, who is even more messed up and broken.
