This post has destroyed me. These images have made me weep and my soul hurt, and what I want you to understand is that there are days that I wish I had never seen, touched or been shown this truth.  I lived in a world that did not understand this orphan crisis and it was so distant from the neighborhood I walked, the church I attended, and the life I was living. Two years ago, I found myself thrust into the truth outside my suburban bubble and it has turned my world upside down. There are days that I buckle under the plight of the children hidden away, forgotten and worthless; human refuse determined by man to be unworthy.

Someday I will die. And on that day I will not care about my bank account, my home, or my career. That day I will care about how I loved. I will care that I have made some small difference to this world. I will care that my voice has not remained silent about these children. And so, without apology I will share brutal truth and blunt words.

These images are brutal and these words are blunt. But the story of redemption is found within. If you make it to the end, you will find that the children pictured have been rescued and redeemed.  You will see how these lost children saved lost families. Because what I have learned is this… I did not rescue my son from an orphanage, he rescued me from my own selfish ambitions and vain conceits. This is the very picture of adoption. When Christ adopted me, I was not easy to look at, I was a mess covered in sin. And He pursued me and paid a great ransom to rescue me.

“The matter is quite simple.

The bible is very easy to understand.

But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly.

Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly.

My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined.

How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship.
Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you?

Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.”

Soren Keirkegaard

Because if you were alone with the New Testament, if you could hold and actually see the brutal and beautiful gospel of my Christ who suffered and died; you could not turn away. You could not step to the other side of the road to avoid it. No, it would settle into your marrow. It would disturb you. If you held the fragile bones and touched the brokenness, you would understand. And throughout your day, you would hear the cries of the orphan. You would be gripped by the voices of  the ‘least of these’. What does it sound of, you ask. It is screaming silence. It is so loud that you could not ignore, or drown it out. Yes, if you could hold the New Testament, you would never put it down. It would take residence in your heart and whisper to your soul. 

Because the gospel can change a person like me, a sinner like myself.  It can open my eyes to what really matters, what truly is important. It has taught me how I lived a backwards faith. I esteemed beauty and riches and eloquent speech. I valued a beautiful home, athletic abilities, and job security.  And where I faltered was in my interpretation of greatness.

The caste system of heaven is backwards. Greatness in heaven is not found in the strong and the talented; great are the weak ones. The gospel preaches the infinite worth of the worthless; while the world teaches worthiness in things that don’t matter.

There is something Jesus said that I want you to think about. Jesus said to those who followed Him:
 

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1).

“Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge … but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2)

“though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3).

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Then the Bible says that this love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7).

The Bible teaches that love is greater than faith and hope (1 Corinthians 13:13). Love is the greatest thing in all the world.

“For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” Romans 8:15

As you look upon these images and hear these words, I hope you are filled with a desire to act. I hope the pictures burn into your soul, and you hear the cry of the orphan. I also hope you understand that the families who have adopted these children do not want credit or accolades. Look at these children and realize that they are looked upon by their families, as Christ looks upon us. Fearfully and wonderfully made, worthy of pursuit; ransomed and redeemed. And that my friends is what true love is.

If you’d like to know more about how to leap or how to support the adoption of these beautifully worthy children, see below. 

All photos have been shared with permission.

 

To see waiting children, go here to Reeces Rainbow waiting children.

To support an adopting family, go here to Reeces Rainbow adopting families.