hands [and feet.]

when i turned away & headed back out on that red dirt, 

suitcases packed & my baby snuggled into my sling,

i walked away from 52 other children in an orphanage because i was not their mother.

i walked away from 2,499,999 million children in my son's birth country 

that didn't have a family. 

i had looked many of them in the eye & held them on my lap

while telling them that they were loved.

then, i walked away.

that has really thrown me for a loop as i prepare to return to Africa soon.

how am i going to go there, see them and then just walk away again?

how am i going to tell them how loved they are when someone just

swoops in for a few days, gives some cans of formula & diapers then leaves forever?

i whisper in their ears that they are loved by the greatest Father of all.

but, really...how can they even believe it?

how can we ask them to trust us that they are loved when they haven't been shown?

we have to meet them there. 

we have to go to their land and fight to preserve their families.

we have to be the hands and feet.

we have to be willing to open our hearts and our homes and our families.

without the fear in our head that says what if...

what if the money doesn't come in?

what if he has a special need?

what if attachment is hard?

what if she has food/trust/medical issues?

what if we find out at the last minute that she is HIV+?

what if he is 6 years instead of 6 months?

what if this is the hardest thing i've ever done?

well....

this is supposed to be hard.  

we are supposed to be living differently.

we are supposed to be radically different.  

we aren't supposed to be happy...we are meant to be content.  

we aren't supposed to sit around blissfully drinking our lattes. 

we are supposed to see the pain and the agnony and the

ridiculous discrepancy of the quality of life in this world

and do something about it.

we are supposed to do something about it.

orphan care is big and wide and messy.

it is unfathomable sometimes, but we cannot close our eyes.

once our eyes are open, we cannot pretend we don't know.

He holds us responsible to act.

 [according to Proverbs 24:12]

obviously, i believe adoption is a beautiful thing.

it is a beautiful picture on Earth of our adoption into His family.

the thing is...

we can't just adopt a child and expect the global orphan crisis to be solved.

163 million orphans.

we have to work on family preservation.  we have to figure out how to better

support ministries serving these children.  we have to figure out how to get them

the resources they need & how they can become self-sustaining.  we have to care

about the ones here & the ones there.  we have to be willing to love the newborn

with HIV and the 8 year old with special needs.  

we have to give up our own ideas, plans & hopes & find His will.

------------------------------------ 

this post is part of the Idea Camp blog.

if you'd like to explore your role in the orphan crisis,

i highly encourage you to join Idea Camp

on February 25-26th in Northwest Arkansas.

they will be exploring orphan care and the church.

The conference will facilitate fresh, honest and transformative conversations 

with leading thinkers and practitioners on topics including US & International care, 

community development, trafficking of orphans, adoption, foster care, child sponsorship, 

HIV/AIDS, special needs, cross-cultural & religious dynamics to care, and many more.