Give me your eyes!

 

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Roman 12:2

“It doesn’t matter how many videos about poverty you see, how many times you hear someone talk about what they’ve seen, or how many times you sing ‘Give me your eyes,” nothing can ever prepare you for the first time you meet it head on.  When you sing a song like “Give me your eyes” you think about the videos you’ve seen or maybe even the poverty in our area. When you sing the lyrics “give me your eyes for just one second, give me your eyes so I can see, everything that I’ve been missing, give me your love for humanity,” and truly mean them, you better be ready for what the Lord is going to show you.  The kids that we were blessed to get to play with today have been though more than we can even begin to comprehend. It’s harder than we ever thought it would be, to hear their stories.  We didn't ask them about their stories, but they all seemed to need to get them out. They all have their own story of how they ended up at the orphanages, though almost every story I heard had something to do with abuse. After being abused, most by people who they love, they are still so happy and full of joy. They just want to know that they are loved and we just want them to know that they are.  We want to remind them that they special and they are loved by an amazing Father who will always be there to protect/comfort them.  I hope they know that there’s a group of 6 Kentuckians and 1 Missourian who will never be the same, who will never forget their faces and will never stop loving them. “- Emily

This morning we broke into two groups. Some went to paint the teen mom’s area and some went to work with the special need’s children. Heather, I (Kayla), Shannon, Emily, and Morgan painted outside the teen mom’s area.  Every wall in sight was painted bright lime green.  I didn’t realize how much painting a few walls could affect someone.  One of the girls told Jenny, a wonderful Godly woman who we are blessed to have as a translator, that she didn’t want to run away from the orphanage anymore because the walls were so bright and pretty, it made her happy.  Wow. Spending a few hours doing something that we think is so miniscule, changed one girl’s entire mindset for the day.

Matt and Jean went to work with the special needs children. “One child stood out in particular for me, some of the reason was because he took to me.  The child was very loving and very energetic,” – Jean. These two got the opportunity to play with the special needs children all morning and from it sounds like it was a true blessing for them. The little boy that Jean was talking was automatically drawn to her upon our arrival at the orphanage. He followed her around and held her hand when he was around her.

After we painted we moved on to doing crafts, the skit, and worship. We were at the same orphanage as we were yesterday but we worked with different groups of children today.  We got the chance to work with younger age boys and girls, special needs, and babies. The craft was the same as the day before for the girls, making the picture frames, and they seemed to adore it. For the boys we did the skit and colored.  Working with the babies was wonderful. We need nothing but “coo” and “awh” over them.  We ask that you pray for a beautiful little baby girl that removed from the orphanage while we were there. We don’t know the situation (just that it wasn’t good) that she is going into but we do that she is in God’s hands. We know and understand that God has plans and that they are bigger than us. Please pray.  We prayed over the little girl right before they were getting ready to take her, the song “Courageous” by Casting Crowns had just come on in the other room. So while we couldn’t stop them from taking this baby back to whatever circumstances she had come from we could pray. We could be courageous in the only way that we could at the time and that was to pray. “The only way we'll ever stand is on our knees with lifted hands, make us courageous…Lord, make us courageous.”- Casting Crowns “Courageous”

Today we got the chance to listen to music as we painted.  The first song that came on was “My Own Little World” by Matthew West. It was a perfect song to remind us of why we were there. The lyrics of the song hit hard for all of us “What if there is a bigger picture? What if I am missing out? What if there is a great purpose that I could be living right now… outside my own little world.” I know personally I don’t want to fall back into the sorry habit of living in my own little world anymore, espeically when I have seen the glimpse of what I have seen.