Okia
"My eyes have seen what my heart could not understand. I have come to a place of rest and peace in the unknown. But the things I have witnessed here have forever changed me from the inside out. It is your voice, Oh Lord, that beckons me. Your voice that comforts me and makes me whole. And I have to know that this precious child will come to know your love in even bigger ways than my earthly mind could ever imagine. Forgive me, Father, for paying little attention to him when we first arrived. I was blind to his cries, and consumed in my own little world that I hardly noticed his jovial spirit when he was in my presence. But I praise you for seeing him, and knowing his heart through and through.
As he led us in the dark shadows last night, he guided us to the place where he slept under a tree. William again spoke to him in Atesso (the local language), and asked him to show us how he slept. Okia crawled onto the leaves on the ground, wet with dew, and my heart broke shattered into pieces.
As we prayed for this young boy, I opened one eye and saw Okia's wide eyes as he smiled at me and reached up. I began to wonder how sin in this world could be so cruel as to leave a child alone and abandoned to care for himself. No one to feed him, no one to bathe him, no one to cure him of this sickness (malaria) that had fallen over his fragile body, no one to comfort him in the night so that he would rest easy. This child had no one.
But Father, He has you.
I lift your name on high for being with this boy, and knowing him as your own son. Today, my heart sank as the truck drove out of the clinic compound, and I looked out the window to see Okia running after it in his bright blue sandals that we had just brought him from the market. I wanted to jump out and hold him in my arms so that he would know that he was loved and that he mattered to someone.
And just as you have always been so faithful to do before, you showed me what a real home for Okia will look like. I saw him, running down an open field with his tattered clothes, smiling with open arms as he giggled and cried out, "Daddy!" And it was you who gathered him up in your loving arms and twirled him around as he laughed with genuine joy and freedom. He was safe and loved.
So while I feel helpless and hurt because I fear not knowing what will become of him here on Earth, I rest in knowing that Okia has a Father who loves and adores him. This is not our home, and one day when we see you face to face, I will see Okia again, in his Father's home. Lord, comfort him in his time here on Earth. Be with him, and bring him peace. Though he may hunger, fill him with your word and promises of a better home. Though he may tire, renew his strength and give him reason to laugh and be joyful. Though he may feel alone, show yourself to him so that he would know that you walk with him and carry him through everything. Though others may hurt him or ridicule him, shield him from the lies of sin, and make him strong enough to rise up and be a soldier for you, God. I know that it was not your will for Okia to be an orphan, that it is a result of sin in this world, and that just as my heart bleeds and breaks, your heart breaks that much more. But I also know that you have prepared an eternal home for us in your kingdom and you will come back for us.
Lord, you are good, and you are my Father. And I will trust in you. For it is you who says, let the children come to me. And it is also you who says you will never leave us nor forsake us.
Now that I have seen, I will never be the same. For I have seen that time here on Earth is short, and I have a hope in a future of a permanent home with you in your kingdom. There will be no darkness, only light. I praise you. And I love you, Father, Daddy."-Journaled on June 27, 2012 in Palissa, Uganda;
Okia is currently an orphan who stays around the area of the clinic that we worked at in Palissa, Uganda. The closest orphanage is about 5 hours (by car) away in Kampala, so we are praying that we can keep in contact with the clinic and our friends who are still in Uganda to find him a good orphanage. Please keep this sweet boy and the orphans of the world in your prayers. "Though my mother and father forsake me, my God you never will."~ Psalm 27:10
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