A few years ago I had a vision. I saw myself at my
home, though not the one I lived in at the time, surrounded by lots of children
and a few women. I was a new Christian at this time and did not know what to
make of this vision. I asked God, “What does this vision mean for me?” I waited
for an answer, but one did not come. Eventually I forgot about this vision.
At training camp for the World Race God reminded me
of that vision. One of the nights we had a speaker who talked about the plight
of orphans all over the world and my heart felt as if it were breaking into a
million tiny pieces. It was then that God revealed to me the meaning of the
vision.
My part in bringing the kingdom to earth will
be with orphans.
During my first month on the Race, I have been able
to experience the joy and pain of loving and caring for some of the beautiful
children of the Philippines. I will never forget how helpless I felt when one
of the babies I was caring for was sick. Her temperature was so high that I
began to sweat as I held her. She was so congested that I could feel her chest
rattle as she labored to breathe. The only way she could communicate her
discomfort was by crying. Although I was completely helpless to alleviate her
discomfort, I walked with her and sang to her. As I did this my heart was
filled with an overwhelming sense of love. When she finally fell asleep in my
arms it was one of the most satisfying moments of my life. It felt right. It
felt as if I were doing what God created me to do.
On another occasion, I had the joy of tucking in the
older girls for the night. As with most children, they didn’t want to go to
sleep when they were supposed to. To get them to fall asleep I told them a
story and sang them a song.
Then came the good night kiss game. I would kiss one
girl on the cheek and then go to the next. When I finished my rounds the first
girl would say “One more last kiss, Ate.”
And it started all over again. We went through the whole process
countless times before it was finally the last
time and I closed the door behind me.
As I left my
heart was filled with more love than I had ever felt before. I felt as if I
could spend the rest of my life being with these kids and being truly happy. I
do not know what the rest of the Race holds for me, but if it is anything like what
I experienced with these children, then I look forward to every minute of it.
