Sam and I spent the month of March high up in the African mountains at El Shaddai Orphanage which overlooks the beautiful Swazi Kingdom. While we were there we tutored, gardened, and hung out with the kiddos. Let me share with you a little about my experience at El Shaddai, and about a revelation a few of the darling teenage girls unknowingly gave me.
One evening as I was relaxing in the kitchen letting a sweet toddler fall asleep in my arms a couple teenage girls strutted by. The younger children had warmed up to us quickly, but we had yet to crack the teenage bunch. I briefly introduced myself to the girls, but they carried on with their business. Not long later the little boy who fell asleep in my arms was swept up to be put to bed. I lingered for a few minutes observing dinner preparations, and soon decided to back my way out of the kitchen. Before I made my way to the door one of the girls yelled to me, “Susan, where are you going, why are you leaving?” Caught in my tracks I turned around and began talking to the girls. I had finally cracked their too cool for school front.
It wasn’t long into our conversation that I learned these girls love to sing. You know, I’ve often dreamed about what heaven will be like and in that moment God gave me a glimpse. Their voices are angelic. But there was something even greater than their heavenly voices. Here are the words of the chorus they sang:
There are no strangers
There are no outcasts
There are no orphans of God
To hear these precious orphan girls sing these words was absolutely the most beautiful thing I have ever heard.
I have an incredible family. My mom and dad love me to pieces. My older brother looks out for me and my little sisters look up to me. They are wonderful and I’ve never questioned their love for me. When I got married in 2011 I became part of a second family. My mother and father in-law are also incredible and love me as their own daughter and Sam’s brothers and their wives love me as their sister.
When I came to El Shaddai I had a heavy heart. It hurt my heart to think that these kiddos would never know the gentle touch of a mother, the protection of a father, and the endless hours of fun with a brother or sister.
But that’s where I was wrong.
The teenage girls love and care for those little ones with all their might. And the teenage boys… well let me just tell you a quick story.
One night a few of my teammates and I were up late watching Catching Fire with the girls. 20 minutes into the movie Cooncy, the supervisor of the teenage boys dorm, barged in carrying a shotgun with the teenage boys marching behind him with hockey sticks and baseball bats. The room erupted. They girls were squeeling, the boys were laughing, and Cooncy, with a stern look on his face, was trying to calm everyone down. Finally when they addressed us in English they told us there were some drunk guys right outside the property fighting and trying to get inside because thy claimed they knew some of the girls. I thought we better call it a night, but the boys insisted we finish our movie. For two long hours they guarded the building we were in so their sisters could finish the movie. Who does that?!?! The love and care they have for each other far surpasses that of most sibling relationships in nuclear families.
I came to El Shaddai thinking they didn’t have a family- and I quickly realized I was completely wrong. They have a huge family. Up there on that mountain they are one big family with the greatest Father. They are not orphans- they are children of God.
Sam and I have agreed on an entirely new definition for family. We now have family all around the globe. Time and time again we have met people who have loved us from the moment they meet us. They love us because the love they know in Jesus. A love so great that He would die for us, all of us, so that we can all be named Children of God. We have been blown away at the sacrifices people who barely even know us have made for us. And each time we are told the same thing- it’s because we are brothers and sister in Christ.
The stories these children have are some of the darkest stories I have ever heard. Amidst it all, they still lift their voices to the Lord and sing. They boldly sing there are no orphans in God because they know they are children of God.
Meet some of the El Shaddai family:
