Wake Up Church

Friends, I don't write this post from a pedestal. Believe me. I realize with ALL of my heart that I am a wretch who has no business throwing stones. So I pray this post will come across with great humility.

There are are 210 children in Samantha's orphanage. Sources say that these children are handled as objects. They survive on liquid, non-nutrient diets. Their diapers are changed once a day. They languish alone in cribs with no one to love them. They are kept sedated so no one will have to deal with them. Until now, only 16 of these children have been listed for international adoption. But today, God has begun lifting another little one out of the pit.

This is Kolina. This poor, sad, sweet baby is NINE YEARS OLD. She has Down Syndrome. She has been sitting in this crib for NINE YEARS. I am told that Kolina likely weighs 10-12 pounds.

Folks, this is unacceptable. Kolina is a human. She was created in the image of our God who loves her. But she has been tossed aside thrown away like garbage. She is receiving less than basic care, because no one cares whether she lives or dies. She is literally starving. For food. For love. For stimulation. For human interaction.

God weeps over Kolina. He weeps over all 210 children in hers and Samantha's orphanage. And He weeps over the more than 147 million orphans in the world who face a similar plight. 

This is our problem.

I've had a short phrase running through my head for the last few days.

"Wake up Church!"

I can't help but wonder if this is from God. I'm almost certain it is. We Christians have lulled ourselves to sleep to the tune of worldly comfort. Some days I wonder whether we've lost track of why God put us here. We sing songs asking God to change us, to fill us, to give us His hand of blessing. We ask Him to use us, to break our hearts for the poor, to send us out into the world. We tell Him we want to pick up our cross and follow Him. But we don't move. What are we waiting for? God has already spoken! He has already sent us out. And if the darkness of a sin-filled world has not already broken our hearts, maybe its because we are not facing that world, but instead self-soothing. Lulling ourselves into oblivion.

I pray that God will wake us up. There is too much work to do, too much of God's love to experience, too much of His grace to keep to ourselves. We absolutely MUST wake up and answer God's call to the least of these. To the orphan and the widow. To a life of less of us and more of him-a life fulfilled.

I recently watched a video interview of Katie Davis, a young woman who gave up her comfortable life in the States to move to Uganda, start a ministry that reaches thousands of children, and personally adopt 14 orphaned little girls. The pastor interviewing her emphasized that "God does not call all of us to adopt," but subsequently asked Katie to give advice to anyone in the audience who might be considering it. Her advice was "to pray and seek God." Then she laughingly added, "I don't think He'll say no!

There is a family out there somewhere prayerfully considering adoption. Let's pray that they are fully awake to God's call and prepared for His resounding "YES". And let's pray that God opens their eyes to sweet Kolina.

"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do.  God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act." -Proverbs 24:12