I have met so many children in the three team visits I have made so far. Each one has his own unique story and needs, and when you meet any of them, you want to be whatever they need. You hope that one day they can know the comfort and joy that comes with having a loving family, but while you hold them in your arms or when you see what kind of life some of people have outside of the orphanage, you are glad they are safe within the walls of the children’s home. While some of the kids have contact with their parents and are in more of a foster care situation at the orphanage, others are up for adoption. I worry that the older ones won’t be adopted because of their age and because the adoption process can take so long. No matter their stories or ages though, you only want the best for them, and you hope they end up in a loving Christian home.
For a few of the children I have met, the miracle of adoption will taken place or has taken place since I’ve been here. It’s been amazing to see God open the hearts of people for these orphans and radically change the lives of these children. Because I move around to the teams so much, I haven’t had as much time to fully attach to a child and feel the bittersweet feeling of saying goodbye to one of them. Kaitlyn at New Faith Family has experienced it though, and she wanted to share her story.
Kaitlyn: I knew coming into this amazing journey that one of the babies in the nursery was in the long process of being adopted and could quite possibly be taken home with her new parents while we were here. After meeting sweet little Colene and instantly falling in love with her, her being taken home was the last thing on my mind until the day it happened. Colene went home with her new PARENTS! It was like nothing I had ever experienced before. It was such a God thing to see that miracle take place for those new parents. Seeing tears stream down the new father’s face after watching his new precious angel play, and seeing the new mother with quite possibly the biggest smile I have ever seen, made my heart overflow with joy for all three of them. While I was so excited for Colene and her parents, I looked around at the other 10 children. Tears immediately starting streaming down my face, and my heart broke for them. I know they are only babies, but looking at their faces made me think they knew what was going on. What killed me to even think about was if they were thinking the same thing I was: Will they ever have this day like Colene is having...will they ever be adopted? I pray that I was wrong, and they did not understand. But an even stronger prayer of mine is that they all will have that day like Colene had, and their precious new parents will be taking them home!