Such A Time

Amazed is the best word I can use to describe it, simply amazed!  It is hard to believe that it has been four short months since Paolo, our first baby to arrive, came through the front door of the Baby House.  As of today, God has entrusted us with 30 kids; Twenty-one in the Baby House, seven in the Boy’s Home and two young ladies in our Transition Program.   We have 13 enrolled in school, nine in pre-K/elementary, two in middle school, one in high school and one in college.  We are blessed with a Christ centered and committed indigenous staff of caregivers, a psychologist, social worker and administrator.  The transformation is not limited to just numbers, we are also witnessing real LIFE change…

TJ received a call requesting shelter for a child with “special needs”.  The request was for us to keep her for a couple of weeks until room opened up at a home for disabled children.  She was about 18 months old when she entered our lives and we wondered what in the world we were supposed to do.  It was obvious she had been given little attention and she could not do much more than lie on the floor and cry, an 18 month old “newborn”.  She had had several brain surgeries and the scaring on her head was clearly visible.  So we set out to make the two weeks for her as comfortable as possible, but God had other plans.  It’s been four months and Yasil is still with us, but it is not the same Yasil.  This is the laughing, walking, smiling, feeding herself, playing, miracle Yasil.  They were exactly right in their choice of words.  She is so “special” and the “needs” she required most of all was love. 

Then there is Gabriel……He came to us at age 2 and has seen more evil in those two years than most of us will see in our lifetime.  His father’s choice of discipline was to hit Gabriel and it was obvious by his behavior that hitting was a regular occurrence.  He screamed at the top of his lungs most of the time and when you tried to get close to him or reach out and touch him he yelled “ouch” over and over.  His interaction with the other children also demonstrated his life experience as he would ball up his fist and raise it over his head as a warning to get away.  Four months later Gabriel is still with us, but it is not the same Gabriel.  This is the laughing, friendly, loving, cuddling, playing, miracle Gabriel.  The one who longs to sit in your lap, snuggle in and enjoy a good book or a big hug. 

Then there is Josie and Liz, the two young ladies who are participating in our Transition Program.  Your eighteenth birthday is supposed to be a memorable one as you have finally made it to adulthood.  For Josie and Liz it was a different kind of memory, a second abandonment.  To be abandoned once by your biological family is hard for most of us to imagine, but to relive this again by the very people who raised and cared for each of them most of their lives is unfathomable.  No warning and nowhere to go and know one to help…..well that is except for TJ.  Today they are both in School, Liz is a senior in high school with aspirations of getting her college degree in computer science, and Josie is a college freshman majoring in accounting.  Both are living in the quarters outside of the Baby House and working part-time with our kids at the Baby Home.   We invited both of them to our home to spend Christmas day with us, the Mitchells and the Wrights.  It was a memorable time, made unforgettable by Josie’s parting words “I thought that when I woke up this morning and hugged and wished my sister Merry Christmas that that was our gift, then we remembered that we were invited here.  You made Christmas special for us by making us a part of your family.”   

In all three of these transformational stories (and there are actually 30 amazing stories) there is one constant and powerful agent of change and that is…..LOVE.  The words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 move us in a new and profound way, especially verse 13, ^“Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”  Amen and amen.

What an incredible four months it has been, watching God work in the lives of the 30 kids of Fundación Esperanza.  The story is actually much bigger than this, but that shouldn’t be a huge surprise as we serve an incredibly big God.  I am reminded of this when I think back to the very beginning and how our relationship with TJ and Tammy started.  How God used dv8, the high-risk kids program that Kim led in McKinney, to bring TJ and Tammy into our lives.  How we witnessed firsthand the gift that God blessed TJ with in his ability to work and speak into the lives of young people.  How inspired we were by the Mitchell’s willingness to leave everything comfortable and embrace a life of caring for children in Bolivia.  How He used the two trips to Bolivia to break our hearts and focus our attention on what He was doing there.   How He used the first 2 years the Mitchells spent in Bolivia, not only to train and equip them, but to reveal to them a dream of opening their own home.  His leading of TJ to volunteer his spare time at the BCM orphanage that was desperate for help and counsel, where Josie and Liz lived. The way He orchestrated the introduction to Lifesong for Orphans which has turned out to be an incredible partnership, full of wise advice and counsel.  When I think about the way that each of the members of the board entered our lives and how each brings a unique and incredible wealth of knowledge and experience, in addition to a deep commitment to advocating for all that God is doing through Fundación Esperanza.

Lastly, I am reminded of how you are connected into this story.  How thankful we are for your willingness to pray, lifting the children, staff, board, Lifesong and the missionary families of Fundación Esperanza to the Father.  How grateful we are for the “hands and feet” back home who tirelessly gathered much needed supplies that directly impacted the children.  How thankful we are to those of you who have, like Simon, answered the call to “come and see for yourself” what God is doing in the lives of children in our care.  All of your labor and love have richly blessed the children, but also blessed and confirmed us.  For those of you who have been able to contribute financially, we are deeply grateful.  All of these gifts, spiritual, physical and financial, impact the daily lives of our children.  All of us woven together in an effort to change the life of a single child, who with the love of Christ will change a generation.  I am reminded of Mordecai’s words to Esther, “……….who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”  Esther 4:14  Maybe not queen, but when you look at how God has truly orchestrated all of this, you can’t help but believe that we have all been brought together “for just such a time as this.” ...mike