Sunday, April 6, 2008

Treasures lay waiting...

I cannot show you their faces. They are kids, and they deserve to be more than poster children for a cause. But you need to hear their stories.







Meet Zack. Fiesty 3 year old, and amazing swimmer. Brother to William and Natalie. If you were to take the time to look you might notice a scar above Zack's lip on the warm tones of his asian face. Cleft lip...repaired in a geriatric hospital somewhere in remote China. Abandoned at birth. Considered unadoptable by the Chinese government. And yet...Zack is snuggled in the arms of his fair skinned mother tonight. Chosen and dearly loved. A miracle happened in the hearts of a woman and a man. And a boy (who at 2 did not even know his name) runs when he is called by his mom. He has scars on his hips from being left in a walker too long by overworked nannies, but the scars on his little heart are fading as the balm of a father's protection and a mother's tender love are worked into the hardened places.



Zack



I would tell you her name. But I don't know it, for she was never given one. She was abandoned in a field by a desperate woman. Only hours old she cried out to be held, and to suckle at her mother's breast. But no one came. She died there in the field.



She had no name.



And then there is Gabreille. Her birth mother gave her a name that meant whore, and tried to kill her with a fork and knife hidden under the matress of her hospital bed. She was rescued by Social Services. Today she has a new name, and a new life, and she does not know her old name. Her brown eyes sparkle with laughter as she is tickled by her siblings. She is chosen and dearly loved.



Gabrielle



So many children, so many stories. Many of their names I do not know. But there is a little girl out there toddling around with her new mommy. She was five months old when she was taken into state custody and placed with a foster family. X-rays were performed at a doctors visit and that is when it was discovered her legs, both of them, had been broken. Twice. She was five months old.







DO NOT MOVE THE ANCIENT BOUNDARY STONE,



OR ENCROACH ON THE FIELDS OF THE FATHERLESS



FOR THEIR DEFENDER IS STRONG



HE WILL TAKE UP THIER CASE AGAINST YOU!







Today, there are children digging through trash cans in Denver, looking for their next meal.






Today, in Nepal a girl child, just 18 months old, has been left at the temple gates to
"serve the gods". She will be a prostitute, molested before the day is done.



Today Guatamala is closing its doors to international adoption and there are many thousands of her children languishing in orphanges. Children like Regan. He's been home for awhile now, adopted before beauracracy got in the way. He was 1, and his mom says that when he first came home he would curl up in her arms and cry. Rage. He had no words for the lonliness and abandonment he felt those many months of his young life. When he was finally safe in the arms of his mom, he mourned the only way a baby knows how. But the time for mourning is past, and Regan has a new name. He was chosen, and is dearly loved.







A FATHER OF THE FATHERLESS, A DEFENDER OF THE WIDOWS.



IS GOD IN HIS HOLY HABITATION.



GOD SETS THE SOLITARY IN FAMILIES;



HE BRINGS OUT THOSE WHO ARE BOUND INTO PROSPERITY.







"There are more than 70 million orphans in the world. At least 35,000 children under the age of five die every day as a result of malutrition or starvation , and there are at least one million children suffering under the oppression of forced prostitution. At least 100 million children are involved in child labor, and 1.5 million children are currently infected with AIDs. "



-Thomas Davis, from Fields of the Fatherless







BUT WHOEVER HAS THIS WORLD'S GOODS AND SEES HIS BROTHER IN NEED AND SHUTS UP HIS HEART FROM HIM, HOW DOES THE LOVE OF GOD ABIDE IN HIM - I



JOHN 3:16-17







PURE AND FAULTLESS RELIGION IS THIS, TO LOOK AFTER ORPHANS AND WIDOWS IN DISTRESS. JAMES 1:27





To look across across the fields of the fatherless is to become overwhelmed with need. So many little lives. But look into the face of children like Zack or Regan, or Gabrielle, and see hope. They are real children, rescued from the fields of the fatherless and at home safe in their mother's arms.





Treasures lay waiting in the fields of the fatherless. Will you go and search them out? Will you rescue a child, and in so doing grab hold of a treasure more valuable than you can imagine?

1 comment:

Jenna Marie Howard said...

Hello
I just wanted to stop by and tell you thank you for caring and having a passion for the orphaned and abandoned. As I have read through your blogs on children I am encouraged that I am not alone in this fight to help orphaned and abandoned children. I am the Director of Public Relations for a non-profit organization called World Orphans. We build church based orphan homes all over the world and our mission is simple E3 to reach each church…each child…each community. I would love for you to take a look at our website and let me know if you have any questions. (www.worldorphans.com) Thank you again for your heart and words that you have written. I hope you will have a glorious blessed day!

Jenna M. Howard
-Director of Public Relations
www.Worldorphans.org
Jennah@worldorphans.org
www.JennaMarieHoward.com