Prayer

Dear Friends,  

This post is a hard one to write because this trip is the hardest one for me for many reasons.  We have had hard partings before, but this was by far the hardest for me.  Much of what I will say is not new, but it hit me much harder this time than before.  Today, we gave Daniel and Mateo back to the mother of their foster mother.  

We awoke them from their afternoon nap and carried them and two bags of clothes and toys down to the lobby of the hotel to wait for the foster mother to pick them up.  When the foster mother's mother arrived to get them, Kelli asked one of the hotel employees to tell the boys that we would be back soon to bring them home with us.  That is when Kelli began to cry.  

We helped the foster mother's mother to the familiar pick-up truck that took the boys home before.  This time Daniel screamed and did everything he could to avoid being put into the truck.  Mateo quietly got into the back of the cab with two other children.  One was a girl about seven who had one crossed eye.  It struck me how we know nothing of the day-to-day life that they live.  Our time with the boys was better this time.  I think that we are beginning to understand them better.  Kelli is amazing at loving them and turning their cries into smiles.  We are beginning to understand how much love we will have to give them for such a long time before they will be able to trust that they have a home that is finally their home.  Yes, this was the hardest time.  

To understand and to give them back into that other world about which we know nothing and to see their reaction...  

I am filled with an understanding of how little I can do to impact the events and people I care about most.  Yes, I mean that I feel powerless to help Daniel and Mateo, these boys who call me Poppi.  Prayer is all I have - and a burning desire to do something!  Yet, I feel that even the things that I do are wrong.  I need to understand that prayer is not just the only thing I have; it is the most important thing.  My powerlessness in this situation makes me think about others as well.  We have friends at church who are facing some of life's greatest challenges as they undergo major surgeries for major problems.  I am aware that there are people all over the world who need God's healing touch, His love, and miraculous intervention.  

I know that it may appear that our problem is minor in comparison, but these two boys have become our family.  To be so close to the end of this journey and not be able to try to begin the healing process that these boys need after having been moved from family to family is sickening.    I know so many of you have so much in your lives that may be so much more important, so much more pressing.  I think of the people who are suffering in Africa...The children who have no one to care for them...The brutal injustice all over the world that continues to enslave the innocent... I ask you all to spend a little more time praying for all the suffering in the world.  I am convinced that God is on the side of the defenseless and the meek.  I am also convinced that it is our job to pray for them and to act for them.  I ask you to continue to support the organizations that care for the world's weakest.  If you have not read it, you may be interested in a book called "Red Letters: Living a Faith That Bleeds."  It does a great job of making the problem real and suggesting many ways to become a part of the solution.    

I know that many of you do not share the same faith that we do, but I know that you love us.  So many of you have said so many supportive things, and I know that even those of you who think we are crazy in the things we do still think that because you love us.  Whatever your beliefs and whatever your thoughts about us, I ask you to pray a prayer for the "least of these" - for the world's most vulnerable... and for two little boys who need to be home with the family that wants to begin the process of building the trust that they will need to grow to strong adulthood.    

I also ask that you do something today or this week to become a little more aware of the great need for justice that exists in this world.  If you don't know where to start, check out the websites of World Vision or The Christian Children's Fund.  You may find a little more inspiration on the types of things that you can do at Tom Davis' blog:  http://tomdavis.typepad.com/   One other site that I find practically inspiring is that of a college student from Canada that Kelli showed me:  Little Ways to Help End Poverty  The story of Hanley Denning and the work that her foundation Safe Passage, does for the children of the Guatemala City garbage dump is another:  http://www.safepassage.org/hanley-denning-memorial-fund/foundersstory.html  

Finally, I ask that you do one more thing:  Reach out today.  Find one more thing that you will do to ease the world's pain.  Right now, I will get on my knees and say a prayer for you and your needs.  If there is anything that you would like us to bring to God, let us know.   You know our need.  Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers for Daniel and Mateo!