Hello!
I apologize it has been over a month since my last blog post. Things have been so busy and I’ve had trouble figuring out what to blog about since so much has happened!
Currently we are in Stambolovo, Bulgaria (near Pavlikeni) and living/serving with two missionaries from Canada, John and Jane Goodwin. They have been very kind and patient with us as we make them our American food and as we sometimes do a very bad job with household projects (aka replacing/caulking windows… more on that to come in a later post). We’ve also had opportunities to share testimonies in a couple of local churches, pass out Bibles in Bulgarian around the market, and do some prayer walking in the villiage.
For now, I want to tell you about my girls in the orphanage in El Salvador…..
We spent all of March serving in various projects in an orphanage called Remar in La Libertad, El Salvador.
In the orphanage, we lived with several of the girls in their cabin and slept on bunk beds. In the cabin where we stayed, one girl is 9 and five others are teenagers.
Most of the girls in the orphanage were very sweet and welcoming to us when we arrived, but I noticed something wasn’t right early on. I noticed most of the children in the orphanage were very violent with each other… frequently hitting, kicking, and even sometimes trying to strangle each other when they were upset. It was also extremely common to hear the girls calling each other “gorda,” “fea,” and “estupida”… fat, ugly, and stupid. What’s worse is that many of the adults who work there make little, if any, attempts to intervene. One little girl came up to me and said, “Tu eres muy mala” (You are very bad.)
I am sure all of this has to do with the way they their families have treated them. These girls have been through things I can’t imagine… abandonment, unthinkable abuse, and, in one case, attempted murder by a family member.
One girl, about 20-years-old, began to act out in front of us and frequently hit the younger girls, despite our warnings to stop. She also started to be very disrespectful towards us. What did I do? I began to ignore her. I thought, if she sees her childish acts get her no attention, maybe she’ll stop. Then God told me something very important and unexpected…. “Don’t ignore her.” The last thing she needed was to be ignored… that’s the reason she was acting out… because she feels unseen and unimportant. So, God told me to begin to give her hugs and pat her on the back at random. Each time I did, I noticed she would smile at me more and more. Tension was being removed and replaced with love. It wasn’t hard to see she is starved for love.
I knew early on God wanted to use me to help these girls begin to understand how valuable they are to Him. I knew I needed to pour into them and challenge them to stop calling each other names. So, for the entire month I waited for the right moment to have a Bible Study with them and declare to them their value in Christ.
Our last week, the right time presented itself and one of my amazing squadmates, Kimberly Samuels, translated while I whole-heartedly told the girls about how deeply God values us.
First, I gave them an illustration… I took out a piece of gum and asked the girls if they would like it… they all raised their hands. I then proceeded to put the gum in my mouth and chew on it… and then asked the girls if they still wanted the gum… they, of course, said “no!” The gum had lost its value because of what had happened to it.
After this, I took out a dollar bill and asked if the dollar bill had value… they all said “yes!” I then proceeded to stomp on the dollar bill, crinkle it up, throw it, etc…. and then asked the girls if the money was still valuable… they, of course, said “yes!” The money had not lost its value because of what had happened to it.
I told the girls they are NOT like the gum to God, they are like the money. No matter what happens to them, they never lose their value!
We then taught them the story about the woman at the well in the Gospel of John (John 4).
God told me to tell them these things:
– Jesus went right through Samaria, a place that most people who were Jewish would have avoided.
– Jesus spoke directly to the woman… and so tenderly.
– Jesus revealed He knew her sin and offered her “living water” (the Word of God.)
-Jesus revealed to her who He is (the Messiah).
– Although this woman was rejected by her own people, Jesus did not reject her. She was valuable to Him.
– Lastly, at the end of the story, I told them the woman left her bucket at the well… WHY? … because she wasn’t thirsty anymore.
That’s MY King!
I prayed the girls would hear how loved and valued they are by God and how Jesus took the time to speak truth and life into this woman who was considered rubbish by others.
I know these girls consider themselves to be worthless. At one point, I asked the girls if they had ever felt like no one loved them… all of the girls immediately raised their hands. The littlest girl added, “Everyone hits me.”
I asked the girls what their most valuable possession was. I explained no matter how much they love their favorite thing, Jesus loves them more. We are His favorite. I challenged them to stop calling each other names and that Jesus would never want someone to call His prized possession “fat,” “ugly,” or “stupid.”
After the Bible Study, my team spent time praying over each of the girls. The littlest girl hugged one of my teammates as she prayed for her. It was precious.
We then gave each of them personalized and colorful copies of this Bible verse:
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8
Yes and Amen!
I pray the Lord used that time to plant important seeds in their hearts. If their hearts are changed, it will have to be done by Jesus. No one, not me or my team, or any other person in all creation can change a person and teach them how much they are loved by the father better than Jesus.
