I pray that God looks over this child of His...

March 16, 2011

I woke up this morning around 6:30 to get some exercise to start the day. Shannon Maixner and I headed out and ran up the only paved road close by 10 times. As usual, Shannon pushed me beyond my expectations in the morning.

After wonderful breakfast of eggs and pancakes, we all piled into the back of the pick-up truck and headed to Mother Theresa’s House. Our backpacks were filled with water and we all carried some power bars along with some sweetener for the water. After about a 10 minute – very bumpy – ride, we arrived outside the gate. Once inside, we saw long lines of mostly women with young children waiting for food. We walked along the long line of people into the place for the young children either orphaned or sick still in cribs.

We walked into the upstairs where the orphaned kids were located. Jeff Gacek, our leader told Jeff Murphy and me to come downstairs where the sick children were located. As I walked into the room, there looked like a young girl in a dress crying terribly. I immediately went over to pick her up and discovered why she was crying – she was wet. It had been some time since I changed a diaper, but I jumped right in.. doing my best to tie a cloth diaper with strings. After this experience, I discovered that I was looking after a young boy. They must put dresses on all of the children. I believe that he was at least two years old

I spent the next two hours with him. I carried him for awhile as I explored the facilities and watched the moms and the workers in the building. We peeked inside the classrooms and watched the children in their neatly dressed yellow uniforms go to school inside the complex. We ended up playing with a bucket in the cool shade. He laughed so hard when he threw the bucket at me; I loved seeing him smile and laugh uncontrollably. We ended up going upstairs with the rest of the children right before lunch. He had some good street sense as he tucked away his cracker when other kids came to take it. We had a lot of fun together and I pray that God looks over this child of his and helps him.

Since the kids need their naps, we departed for Gertrude’s Orphanage. Gertrude’s has a mix of kids in school and kids that have special needs. One of the young girls took my hand and brought me all of the way around the house to the front to the swing set. I strapped her in and swung with her for at least 45 minutes. Other kids came and went and she just kept on swinging. Sammie took over for me and swung her for at least another 20 minutes until lunchtime. During lunch I fed a special needs girl a large bowl of rice and meat. She at very slowly, but we eventually made it through the entire bowl. I could not believe that she finished the whole thing!

We went back to Mother Theresa’s to play with the kids after their nap. I found an orphan girl crying for somebody to hold her. We hung out for the next couple of hours. We got along very well because her disposition was similar to mine – quiet and content. I prayed for this little girl that the time we had together would somehow make her day a little better.

It was difficult to see all of these young children alone in the cribs. Many of them in need of medical help and most importantly love. With so many children and so few workers, I think that it is difficult to give each child the love that they deserve and need. The simple fact that places like Mother Theresas’ and Gertrudes’ makes me feel good that there is hope and people with the compassion to care for the least.

Written by Alex Sexson