Visiting Orphans

I first met Pastor Pedro five years ago when he worked for us as an occasional motorist.  Burdened for destitute orphans in his native community across the provincial border, he told me about the ministry to them that he was developing.  As I supported his work with encouragement, prayer, and occasional donations, he invited me to visit.

Since I now have a vehicle, I could finally accept his invitation!  Two weeks ago, on Sunday after church, I took Olga, Blaine, and Pastor Pedro an hour and a half down the highway to the mud hut where his family lives and works.  Nearly fifty children, several of them wearing clothes I’d donated, greeted us with enthusiastic singing and then sat down on the dirt floor to visit with us.

Pastor Pedro and his wife explained that because they lack overnight accommodations for the orphans, they sleep with whatever relatives they have in the area, coming frequently to Pedro’s home for food, clothing, and Bible lessons.  At my request, each child said his name, and those who knew their age gave that as well.  Most spoke the local language, in which they are more comfortable than the national language.

I pulled my plastic chair close to them and addressed them with joy in their language, starting by introducing myself and my guests.  The children’s responses to my questions indicated that their understanding of Christianity was minimal, so I explained God’s offer of forgiveness for our sins through Christ’s death on the cross.  I sang my collection of eleven key verses about faith from Hebrews 11, set to music as a suite of five Scripture songs.  The orphans don’t have their own Bibles, but I exhorted them to find ways to read God’s word so they can know Him.  I challenged each one to tell me a Bible story on my next visit.

After a hearty meal of rice, beans, and pork, Pedro unloaded the rice I’d brought as a gift.  Then we told the orphans goodbye and headed home.  Will you pray for them?  They lack almost everything this world has to offer (Pedro asked if I could bring bamboo mats for them to sleep on when I visit again), but their greatest need is to know our Savior Jesus Christ.  May He reveal Himself to them.