Today’s Blog by Yvonne
Local churches or local governments refer orphaned children to our facilities in Nepal and Myanmar. Some of these youngsters lost their entire families in disasters or wars. Worse yet, some of the kids get abandoned on street corners. These children come to us when they are very young, so we do not always know the entire story of their life before we found them. James, for example, was found living on the streets of Nepal when he was just five years old, alone and forgotten. James shook with fear when he arrived at the home, thin from malnutrition. I find it very hard to understand or imagine such severe poverty that would cause me to abandon my children in such ways.
Recently, I read another account of other lost children in a book called “No Longer a Slumdog” by K.P. Yohannan. The book told a story of two young sisters who traveled by train to Bombay with their mother. At one of the train stops, their mother asked them to wait while she ran to get a drink. She never returned. The train continued with the sisters still aboard. Scared and alone, they stayed together until the train reached a large city. Then they got off and sat down in the train station, confused and desperately alone. My heart breaks to think of these young girls. Finally, after several hours sitting by themselves in the train station, an elderly woman spotted them and offered help. She took them to a home for lost children. The shelter took them in and cared for them. Unfortunately, stories of abandonment are commonplace across Southeast Asia and other areas in our world.
God granted us the opportunity to care for children like the ones in the above stories. We opened orphanages in Myanmar and Nepal. Between both locations, we house and care for about 45 children. Little ones abandoned and lost in this big world. They came to us scared and forgotten, searching for someone to love them. We feel blessed by serving these beautiful children.
The stories of these children also remind me of our own stories. We are lost and abandoned in a big, scary world. All of us are looking for someone to love us and to care for us. Our orphans found shelter and love in our orphanages. We too can find refuge and love. Jesus waits for us with His loving arms open to welcome us home. John 14:18 tells us, “No, I will not abandon you as orphans–I will come to you.” God is our shelter as shown in Psalms 31:20 “You hide them in the shelter of your presence, safe from those who conspire against them. You shelter them in your presence, far from accusing tongues.” Seek God, and He will find you and bring you into His loving shelter, and you will be safe forever.
Blessing,
Yvonne, author and blogger.
Matthew 28:19 “Therefore, GO and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
