My prayer before going on my trip to Haiti this past month was that God would break my heart. As badly as I wanted to avoid this and stay comfortable, I knew it was what I needed to grow. Since I was young I have had a God-given burden for children growing up in bad situations- especially in poverty-stricken countries. Over the years and many trips on over-seas mission trips, I found myself growing numb. I have heard and seen countless situations where children are growing up in situations that are absolutely heartbreaking, and for some reason the more frequently I started experiencing this, the less it started to break my heart. It became normal and expected to me. I was so afraid of growing complacent and continuing to become numb to the pain that breaks The Lords heart, so my prayer was for a broken heart. I wanted to feel what God feels and have even a piece of the compassion that Jesus has. Of course, God answered my prayer and broke my heart entirely more than I expected. This is Caleb. Hes 7 years old, and was dropped off by Haitian Social Services at the orphanage that we partner with, Life is Wealth, on December 27th. Life is Wealth generally only accepts girls, so when we brought our team to the orphanage on the 29th, Caleb caught my attention quickly. I started playing with him, and eventually found out his story of why he was at Life is Wealth. His dad had been put in prison a few days prior because of how badly he had been beating Caleb. As many times as I have heard stories like this in the past, this time it felt different. I started thinking about what it would be like if my 8 year old sister, Ella, was taken from her family because she was being abused and put in an orphanage, knowing no one. Putting it into perspective, Caleb was no longer just another orphan. He was a child who is loved beyond understanding by the Author of Love himself. A little boy who likes to play with toy trucks, and play tag, and be loud, and sing songs, and gets rowdy for attention, and sometimes just wants to be held. He is just like any other little boy, but he has to be stronger and more brave than he should be at his age. And finally I felt like I had seen just a little glimpse into what Christ feels for His children that He loves so much living in this broken world. A few days ago I was studying and came across a name for God I had never heard before- El Roi. It means the God who sees. Caleb has been heavily on my heart and mind since leaving Haiti, and this just blew me away. My God not only sees into my heart and Calebs heart but he sees every orphan, every mother sitting by her sick baby in the hospital, every addict hitting rock bottom, every broken-hearted person and still my Gods love is able to sustain and His grace is sufficient. Caleb was taken from the orphanage and placed in a different orphanage about a week ago by Haitian Social Services. This was really hard news as I will probably never see Caleb again, but I am resting in the fact that my God sees all, and His grace and love is sufficient to sustain. I am thankful for the days I got to spend showing Caleb how loved He is, holding him, chasing him, tickling him, and telling him Jezi renmen ou. I am praying for Caleb- that He will feel the loving arms of Christ walk him through life-wherever it may lead Him, and thanking God for answered prayers and broken hearts filled with the burden of being Christs hands and feet to a broken and dying world.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 02:12:51 +0000
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