Our little family has had the extreme joy of volunteering two to four times a month at a local orphanage. What a blessing this has been! The children of Jeruel, a local children’s home, have captured our hearts.
Each time we visit, we try to come up with a creative way to brighten their lives. At this point we don’t know enough Spanish to clearly communicate spiritual truth with words …so we are showing them what spiritual truth looks like with skin on. Each time we visit we play games, talk, help with homework, smile a lot and show genuine interest in each child. We also give LOTS of hugs.
This week when we visited, I looked around at the children interacting with one another and realized there was very little physical contact. It was no wonder, then, that there were two children plastered to me, one on each side, and that there was another one standing in front of me, stroking my hair. It was also no surprise that there were about ten more standing as close as they could to me without running over their friends who were already hugging me.
What a gift it is to feel loved. I have often thanked God for my amazing parents, but I think today is the first time in my life that I thanked God for parents who hugged me. It is a new goal of mine to hug as many children as I can each time I go to Jeruel. If I am part of Christ’s body, I want that body to give hugs. These kids are starved for affection. I want to love them. In doing so, perhaps their little hearts can soften to their Savior’s love.
Pray with us that the day will come soon that we will have the skill in Spanish to be able to clearly communicate God’s love to them.
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