Millions of children worldwide have been abandoned and abused. Twenty-six of them live ten minutes from my home.
In a small shelter they wait with other kids ranging from age one to twelve. Some go to extended family while others enter the foster care system. Others return to parents sometimes only to return a second time to the shelter.
This year we decided to invited the kids over for a Harvest party on Southern Wesleyan University’s campus. Students found out about the kids and the excitement grew. Soon lady bugs, Alice in Wonderland, pizza delivery guys, punks, and even Bonnie and Clyde made appearances in our dorm to hand out candy. The kids decorated trick-or-treat bags, intro- duced themselves, enjoyed hay rides and ingested way too much sugar through pumpkin cookies and candy.
And what we hoped would happen did. The kids laughed, the students were moved, and something started. Students keep asking, “When can we see them again?” And that asking is turning into weekly visits to help with homework and play. Because while millions of orphans live worldwide needing our attention, some live ten minutes away. So we will start here where we are planted and, in so doing, hopefully catch God’s heart for the 140 million farther away.
In a small shelter they wait with other kids ranging from age one to twelve. Some go to extended family while others enter the foster care system. Others return to parents sometimes only to return a second time to the shelter.
This year we decided to invited the kids over for a Harvest party on Southern Wesleyan University’s campus. Students found out about the kids and the excitement grew. Soon lady bugs, Alice in Wonderland, pizza delivery guys, punks, and even Bonnie and Clyde made appearances in our dorm to hand out candy. The kids decorated trick-or-treat bags, intro- duced themselves, enjoyed hay rides and ingested way too much sugar through pumpkin cookies and candy.
And what we hoped would happen did. The kids laughed, the students were moved, and something started. Students keep asking, “When can we see them again?” And that asking is turning into weekly visits to help with homework and play. Because while millions of orphans live worldwide needing our attention, some live ten minutes away. So we will start here where we are planted and, in so doing, hopefully catch God’s heart for the 140 million farther away.