I have fallen in love with orphans. It’s true I must confess. I love them, and I want to hold them, and play with them, and let them know that they are loved. I want them to know what it means to be a follower of Christ, and I want them to know that they are sons and daughters of the most High King. Here in India we are working with an orphanage that has 105 children. It’s run by 6 or 7 believers and the kids have a partially strict schedule (which I totally love because I am a very structured person). School, play time, lunch, Prayer Time, free time, Study time, dinner time prayer time and then bedtime. The ages of the children range between 5-14. Our group of about 9 people are teaching the Kids the Fruit Spirit for the next 9 days. Today we taught on Love. Told the Story of Jonathan and David and then explained what it means to show love to your friends. Then we played this great game with the kids where we broke them into 4 groups and gave each group a puzzle (that we had made out of construction paper) and had a contest of who could figure out the puzzle the fastest. Each puzzle was a heart, and within each heart there was a verse talking about love. The kids LOVED it! Then we taped them up on the wall.
Anyways, the more time I spend with these kids the more I wish I could just disciple each one of them, and teach them what it looks like to be passionately in love with Jesus. Did I mention that most of the kids speak some English? Which is a change, because everywhere we have been in the past the children have not. So, we are actually able to have somewhat of a conversation with these kids, rather than acting out everything with our hands. Its funny though, cause you find yourself talking in broken English, which for whatever reason seems to be better understood than just normal English.
The below picture is of my girl Preeta. I call her mine because every time I show up at the orphanage she runs to me and yells “Rachel Auntie” and we throw our arms around one another. She is 9 years old and has lived at the orphanage for 3 years. When I asked her what was her favorite part about living there she simply said, “Everything”. If only I could look at life through the eyes of an orphan…
James 1:27, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world”
Only a couple of verses before this amazing verse there is a great thing said… Vs. 22 “But be doers of the word, and not just hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Vs. 25 “But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
When you know that the Word says go help the orphans and the widows, and you know that the Word says be doers of the word not just hearers…. Guess what? You should probably get up and go do something.
