The children were away at school when we visited, but we were welcomed in with open arms anyway. The director introduced us to the house mother as well as two volunteers. They gave us a tour of the orphanage and then sat us down, served us snacks, and talked to us for hours.
So why was it so special to me? Honestly, I’m not sure. Perhaps it was the love that exuded out of the director and house mother… or the incredible feeling of peace that my whole team felt while we were there. I think some of it came from the visions the Lord gave me of my own future, but more than anything I think it was the way the director described his vision of the orphanage.
He spoke of how his desire for it was to be a home. He hates the word orphanage because it focuses on the children as orphans. They rescue babies that have been abandoned, and bring them to their home. They can’t take more than about 20 children at a time because they want to provide quality care for them. Currently they an adoption program set up, local and international. Ultimately, adoption is the hope they have for all their children, but the Lord has given him an idea for the children who are not adopted. He wants to start a series of homes for the older children who don’t get adopted. They would have house mothers at each and a small amount of children, each would be a sort of foster home. His idea is that these orphans never feel like orphans. He wants them to always know they are loved, cherished, and have a home of their own.
I’m not sure why I was so touched during my time there, but each of us was. Some left with the hope of returning, others inspired by visions of their own futures, but all of us left in awe of that place, and not sure why. All I can say that made this orphanage so unique is that it didn’t feel like one… it truly did feel like a home.
