An Unknown Child

Some of these thoughts are big-picture ones. Some are individual stories of the kids or situations. Some may be a little uncomfortable, even bothersome. Maybe that is a good thing. Ok, let's go.

Look into the eyes of a child in an impoverished country...

I met this girl at All In One orphanage, which we help financially support through our church. It was probably around 2:00 on Saturday afternoon. I don't know her name, or her story. I was told she was just dropped off here, probably just for the day. The pastor at All In One, Joseph Kesnel, keeps the front gate open during the day for "neighborhood" kids to come play inside.

I had just wiped a thick, green, slime-like, duel-nostril snot that had consumed her upper-lip (I don't think she was well). And I'm not sure why her face was so dirty. I'd guess she was between 3-5 years old (Haitian kids are smaller in size, typically). I flashed her a smile and gave her a little hug, but she just stared at me like she was someplace else. I don't want to imagine what her world is like, outside that orphanage gate. These are the children being rescued, though, by Kesnel, and through the support of Global Orphan and its partners.

Inside this orphanage is like a suburban-American master-planned community (by Haitian standards, at least). More than just amenities, it's places like this where:

• their hopeless eyes see love & hope, often for the first time
• their frail little bodies find nourishment, health and safety
• then, over time, their souls are renewed as they find community, faith and joy.

Scroll back up to that picture and look again.

Just living in America, we are among the world's most wealthy. But it's what we do with it, that really matters. It makes you think...