Dearest Friends,
James 1:27. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
*** Please note that this particular email is not appropriate for young children to read ***
Their Stories….Our Stories
The scripture that you read above is written on the sign for the Hope Center orphanage at the front gate. This scripture is a sweet reminder to me to serve these children.
For the children and young people here, it is a promise that they will be loved and cared for and be safe in this place.
Love and safety are things that were often missing in their lives. Everyone here comes with a story and these stories will make you cry.
A few have parents who can not give them the medical attention that they need. They have AIDS, but are presently in remission. Praise God!
There are some sisters here whose parents divorced and they would go and forth between them. The father would rape them. Their mother was a prostitute and she would sell the girls. Now, they are safe and loved.
There is a precious young man here. His parents died and his 11-year-old sister kept the family together for 2 years. Every day, the school would dismiss for lunch and the children would go home to eat. They had nothing to eat, so they would just sit in the house for an hour and go back to school hungry. Their sister did her best, but it was simply too much for a child to care for children. Now, they are well fed and safe. The young man wants to train as a storyteller for the new puppet team. All of the team members will be orphans.
It is a special joy to love and serve these children. Please hold them in your prayers and ask the Lord to give them forgiveness for all the people who have hurt and failed them.
Our story is a story of blessing. Every day, we hear children calling on Jesus, asking Him to rescue them. I think a lot about one truth. All of us are orphans before we meet Jesus and discover God as our Father. We are truly blessed!
In Jesus, Linda,Kelsey, Leslie, and Drake