An Inkling
I am writing this week from Kazakhstan. Do you know where that is? I know I didn’t, until I came to St. Giles and learned about our partnership with an interchurch group that enables us to join in blessing orphans ten time zones to the east. I first came here in 2008, and am most grateful to be able to come again.
Many of the state’s orphan care efforts are admirable. But even where it works as well as possible, there is a huge love deficit. That’s where we come in. We just show up and love the kids. They show us their rooms, what they’ve made in school, and their pictures of family – if they have family. I’m not particularly gifted in working with children. But this takes no great gifting – just a willingness to show up and love.
That love has found a particular focus for me this week in Anastasia. She is the little girl that Sarah and I have begun to sponsor through Interlink. She’s eight years old, and has been in the orphanage for most of her life. She’s not an orphan in the classic sense. Her parents are living, but they have yielded her and her brother to the orphanage, due to their inability to care for them. If anything, that’s a sadder legacy than having no parents at all.
Anastasia is like the other kids, hungry for love, and for someone to be especially focused on her. That’s been my job this week. My tear ducts have gotten a good workout in the process, and especially so the second day I saw her. I had brought her a box of brightly colored ponytail holders that Sarah found for her as a gift. We weren’t certain what she would like. But all doubt was removed when I saw her on that second day, with all of the ponytail holders in her hair at once – as you can see in the picture.
I lost it. Just seeing her with every color in her hair at once – her proud effort to receive this simple gift fully – was as beautiful a sight as I’ve ever seen. May it be that we would receive the full rainbow array of adornments given by the One who has not left us as orphans (John 14:18). In his love he would make us beautiful. And my guess is that our eagerness to sport his adornments might well bring tears to his eyes.
Of course in my case I trust he has something other than ponytail holders… Ha!
Blessings,
Keith
P.S. – My friend, Tim Brown, who is on the trip too, saw my blog post and made this youtube video to fill out the picture a bit. Thanks Tim!
P.S. – My friend, Tim Brown, who is on the trip too, saw my blog post and made this youtube video to fill out the picture a bit. Thanks Tim!
