As I woke up Tuesday morning, looked at my arm and saw over about 200 “bites” I didn’t freak out, I just thought about the pain that these precious children have to be in by living in this day in and day out… the fact that we take so many, many small things, like not sleeping in bed bugs for granted.
We are ministering at an orphanage here in Delhi and at the same time, making this our new home for the next 20 days. When we arrived here on Monday night, it was dark and very late, so the children were asleep… so when I woke up Tuesday morning to the sound of children praying and worshipping God in unison. It was awesome… it was almost like a children’s boot camp. The smallest little one (about 3yrs old) would stand and lead the entire group in their praises… the awe that I was in… completely blown away… I was instantly moved to tears. It made me miss “my kids” in Africa so much.
So… here were are… and YES… it is HOTT and I have to say that hot doesn’t even describe what it feels like. We are staying in the orphanage, in concrete buildings, with tin roofs, mosquitoes, bugs, and it is about 120 degrees outside and sleeping in tents that only makes the heat intensify… it is HOTT!!!!
Though despite all the “bad” things, we are here to love on these children, show them how much God loves them, and give our all to serving this orphanage. It is amazing how easily you can set all things that you normally “care” about aside and look at these kids and see how much they need love and we are here just for that. All the bed bugs, the flee infested mattresses, mosquitoes, lice, scabies, boils… all these things would normally freak me out and I wouldn’t get within an arms reach of them, but here I am… sleeping with them, praying over them, washing their lice infected hair, cutting their hair, and loving on them as much as I possibly can.
Just to give you a glimpse of these kids, this orphanage and what they have been going through… this orphanage is just a small part of a large ministry that was started years ago. They have been under strong persecution for a very long time now… about 2 1/2 months ago the leader of this ministry (we will call him…Joe), his son (we will call him…Bob), and the pastor (we will call him… George) that runs this orphanage had to go into hiding… one day they were going to the lawyer’s office when the authorities “caught” George and Bob. George was released… but Bob was not. He was sent to prison where he was held on 14 false charges, tortured and beaten for 15 days and not allowed to sleep and they let rats eat on him. He knew that he was probably going to die there, but he was okay with that because it’s all for the sake of the gospel.
During this time, this orphanage was going through tremendously hard times. The orphanage once was full with over 375 orphans and now because of financial issues there are only about 80 children left. They had to send many of them away to friends and family because the simply did not have any money to support them. There was zero money for food. The only food the kids would receive was donated from the local farmers… many, many times they wouldn’t be able to eat for days.
The orphans refused to let this affect them and fought through it. They would spend days fasting and praying for Bob to be released, they would spend hours a day praying for their country and the torture their leader was experiencing. These kids are so strong, they are taught not to cry, so for them to show emotion is such a big deal… they will fight and hold things in so well, but you can see the hurt on so many of their faces.
…Well… praise the Lord… we got some good news Bob was released from prison yesterday!!!! The joy that filled this place, the joy on the kids’ faces, and the presence of the Holy Spirit among the kids yesterday was amazing.
These kids have so much hurt, so many different stories, and just want to be kids and feel loved. I feel so unworthy for what the Lord has called me here to do and be a part of, but I praise His name for it. I continue to be in awe of what He is doing. He is growing these kids in a way that I have never seen before.
There are 13 yr olds that stand up and preach and tell their friends how much God loves them, how life is too short not to smile; John 15… God chose us we did not choose Him and He appointed us to go and preach; 3 yr. olds stand up and lead the group on prayer and then in praise songs; when their friends are sick they pray over them and believe in the Lord for their healing. As I sit and type this Chad is asking some of them “what is your favorite thing to do” and the most popular answers are “praying and preaching”. I mean… WOW… I can not even think of words for that.
Our God is such an awesome God. Though we are spending 20 days in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the “desert”, in 120 degree heat, in a “bug” infested place… God blessed us by choosing us to be here (He chose us… we didn’t choose Him) we are getting to love of some of the most amazing kids ever (other than my “own”
J
) and we are learning so much through them, this is definitely the most awesome experience of the trip yet.
On the plane going to Thailand I read Tom Davis’ book… Fields of the Fatherless and we are getting to live out everything that he talks about in the book and what a privilege it is.
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me”…
“Scripture mentions the importance of caring about orphans more than sixty times”…
“The sure way to deprive the poor of the justice due them is to do nothing”…
“Freely you have received freely give”… Matt. 10:8
“For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me”. Matt. 25:35-36
“Pure and faultless religion is this; to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” James 1:27
Soon after I wrote my last entry, we had the privilege of meeting Bob. Upon his release from prison, they brought him to the orphanage to see the children and we had the honor of meeting him. Never in my life have I experienced the presence of God on a person as strong as it was on him. The minute I walked outside and saw him greeting and loving on the children I was crying. As he came so humbly and introduced himself to us and told us just a glimpse of what he had been through, the Holy Spirit fell so strongly on many of us… we were in tears, speechless.
As he was telling us a glimpse of his testimony… he said a few things that stuck with me. The first being… “the only reason these people are after me is because of them (and pointed to the children) and if that is the case bring it on… I am willing to die for them, for the sake of the gospel”. Then, he quoted Phil. 1:21 “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” He told his wife the night before (after being released from prison) that he had one goal in life and that was to be like Stephen… when Stephen died God stood up… when “Bob” dies is goal is to have the Lord stand.
Amazing, amazing man of God.
Within hours of being released from prison, some people came to the prison to charge him with a crime that would put him behind bars for 17 yrs… so he is “on the run” now. Please pray for him, his family, his safety, and the children of the orphanage.
