Aug 08 2008

the valley of the shadow

Published by at 7:59 am under In Costa Rica

We have not yet posted about the second activity we did on Wednesday.  This is in large part because it has taken a while to process and be ready to post about it.  On Thursday afternoon, after lunch we did not return to CAI for more “efficiency in motion”.  Rather, we went over to an orphanage that has been around in Costa Rica for over 100 years, Vista Del Mar.  When it was founded it was an orphanage in the traditional sense, a place for children with no families for whatever reason.  Now, it is mainly a place for abused and neglected children that the Costa Rican government has removed from families.

When we arrived we toured around the facility with Charlie and he told us about the ministry of the orphanage and what his work teams have done out there.  He only shared a couple of the stories of how the children ended up there.  He told us that he has learned to stop asking why children end up there, he says that if he knew them all he would not be able to sleep at night.  After hearing the one story that he did share I’m glad he stopped there.  After seeing the whole facility we split up and went into two of the houses to meet some of the younger kids and play for a little while.  This was a joyous experience and a heart breaking experience all at once.

I was playing with an 11 month old boy named Darien.  He was fascinated with my hat and loved to walk around (actually waddle around) while holding my hand for balance.  As someone who is preparing for his first son to be born this December I just kept looking at this precious little boy asking myself, “How could anyone ever treat you poorly?  How could anyone not love you with their whole heart or actually want to hurt you?”  These were questions that had no answer, and yet I found them constantly in my head.  Even now it is hard to even think about.  This was the experience for all of our people as we played with these children and tried to love them the best way we knew how for the time we had with them.  Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them.”  I hope and pray that they found some measure of Jesus-like-joy while we were there.

Just before we left the grounds of the orphanage we turned back toward it, each stretched a hand and prayed a blessing over that place.  That though it is a place of sadness and despair, truly a place in the valley of the shadow, that God would rain down his redemption on the lives of each and every child in that place.  At the end of Genesis after Joseph has endured so many trials and evils at the hands of others, God has redeemed it all and used Joseph in a mighty way.  The way Joseph describes it is, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”  May it be for these children as well.

Adam

One response so far

One Response to “the valley of the shadow”

  1. Emmaon 08 Aug 2008 at 2:32 pm

    Darien was SO close to walking when we visited the orphanage. He would stand in the middle of the floor and we would put our arms out and call him to us and you could just tell that he wanted to move his little feet soooo much but just couldnt.

    It’s good to hear that hes getting even closer!

    It’s so good to be able to hear all of this. 🙂

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