Meet my friend, Ezra! My team and I have had the pleasure of visiting Sarah’s Covenant Homes six days a week this month. For the first hour or two each afternoon, we spend time with our “best buddy”. SCH asked us to each invest part of our time in one child each day throughout the month before we have group activities later in the afternoon. This gives children the opportunity to get the one-on-one attention they may not otherwise receive.
After a couple relaxing afternoons of listening to music, I knew that my month in India wouldn’t be complete without spending some extra time with Ezra.
Ezra and I share a love for music. As he sits on my lap, he dances to the beat and he loves it when I help him clap his hands. As I sing to him, he often begins to sing along using his own words and sounds.
Throughout the four years before The World Race, I served several adults with disabilities at the Darrell E. Davis Adult Day Center. As a child and throughout my teenage years, I had the pleasure of knowing several of my mom’s students at the same day center. I spent several weekends with my grandpa who has had a brain injury for several years.
On many occasions, I find that God chooses to use people with disabilities to show me things about Him that people without disabilities often cannot. I think of the woman who has invited more people to church in the last year than I have in my entire life. Her boldness and welcoming heart inspires me to act in the same way. My grandpa shared with his Sunday School class that he is an example of a miracle. The power of prayer and God’s healing overflows from his simply stated testimony.
Ezra has taught me more about worshiping God, specifically through song, than anyone else I’ve met. As mentioned above, Ezra loves singing along to songs. Due to his disability, he is unable to form words to sing the lyrics, but does this stop him? Not at all! The only thing that matters to him is that he is held and can sing his heart out.
As I was telling my squadmate, Sam, about Ezra he reminded me of something Jesus once said to his disciples.
Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Luke 18:16-17
These words were spoken in a culture that saw children as people with little value. Adults claimed that children couldn’t contribute to society due to their age. When Jesus said these things to the disciples their perception of children was transformed.
Indian culture views people with disabilities in a very negative light. Compelled by pressure from religion and society, parents abandon their child if they are born with a disability. Yet when I spend this season of my life with Ezra, it becomes quite clear that he is exactly who God is looking for. He is an heir to a Kingdom as promised by Jesus.
When I look at Ezra from Jesus’ perspective, I see an awesome picture. It is no longer a missionary and an orphan singing a song. It’s so much more. It is two sons offering their voices in worship to a loving, amazing God.
To learn more about Ezra and Sarah’s Covenant Homes, click here!
