For our ministry month in Ecuador, my team has been assigned to work alongside Camp Hope which provides care to children and adults with disabilities. Working with the disabled community has become a great joy of mine. It began several summers ago when I nannied for a sweet, happy, energetic five year old boy with Down Syndrome. The following summer, I moved to Virginia to work at a facility that provided care for children with various disabilities. I found myself struggling within the first few months. I saw things that I didn’t know how to understand- children confined to wheelchairs, still in diapers, unable to feed, clothe, toilet themselves, etc. I didn’t understand how God could allow this. I began asking Him about it, and He revealed an answer that I wasn’t expecting.
In addition to working at the facility, I cared for two twin girls. While getting them ready for their nap one afternoon, they asked me to read them a story. They picked out their children’s story Bible and chose a story from John 9 where Jesus healed a man who was born blind. The disciples asked Jesus, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” Jesus replied, “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins.”
“This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.”
Well. I just found myself overwhelmed. But that day changed my perspective- that God chooses to reveal his power through these children, however that looks like. In John 9, Jesus brought healing. In Virginia, God used a family who found themselves exhausted and overwhelmed in caring for their disabled daughter to open a facilty that not only provides rest to hundreds of other families, but also shares the Gospel.
And whether God chooses to bring healing on this side of heaven or not, one thing I am confident about and look forward to is that He will. I love thinking about the dear ones I have cared for in the light of Romans 8:18-19 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.”
Just even trying to wrap my mind around that leaves me in awe. I’m thankful for our month to love on the children of Camp Hope- to give high fives, hugs, play in the grass, and even to wipe drool, feed meals, brush teeth, and change diapers. I look for how God reveals himself now, but man, I especially look forward to when God reveals His children fully as who they are- sons and daughters made in His image.
