Yesterday we visited a family’s home for lunch. They are a giving family with little to give. The meal was incredible – probably my favorite in Cambodia thus far. They gave us their time, a wonderful meal, entertainment – three songs by the orphans, and bracelets as we left (one source of their income).
The family consists of Ravi, her husband Nutpich, 25 children, and their grandmother. The children are closer to adopted children than orphans.
Nutpich grew up in a poor, uneducated village, but his father insisted he attend school. The village had only one Christian old man, but he led Nutpich to the Lord. Eventually Nutpich moved to the city in search of work. He made several visits back to the village, many times bringing back a child or children. “Please, take my child,” they’d tell him. “I cannot feed her.” He took them home and his wife, what an amazing woman! just said, “We will trust in God.” And they both love them all as their own.
Ravi and Nutpich have three biological children, but we wouldn’t have known if we didn’t ask. When Nutpich returned home from work, several of the children came running, yelling joyfully, “Papa!” He smiled and picked one up, patted some others and said hello before greeting us.
The orphanage we’ve been visiting this month is much larger – it has several large rooms, an office with five computers, and a large open area, but man is it dirty! I can only recall two instances in the past month where I’ve seen a potential parent figure show love toward any orphan of over one year old.
Nutpich, Ravi, and her mother insist on the children taking responsibility of keeping the place clean, and it was spotless. They sleep in two small rooms – girls and boys – on matts that are rolled and neatly stored daily. All the clothes are hung rightly against the wall. The children have good hygene and a natural outpouring of joy. There is a calm and right spirit in the place that I could almost taste.
The pastor of the church where we’ve been staying assures me that there are many more parents in his church, as well as in partnering churches, that would run the same type of home for orphans if they had the funding to do so. If there were a couple who showed have the love of Ravi and Nutpich, the children would be better off than those in the majority of the orphanages here.
