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One of the ministries we follow and support is Orphans Unlimited in Mozambique, Africa. It was started by one woman, Pastor Brenda Sue Lange, in 1993. It has grown to serve many orphans and villages in the country, and it has grown as many come to Christ on a regular basis. This morning, her weekly update touched my heart. It was written by one of their newer staff members, Melissa Olmsdahl. Let this portion of her letter touch your heart and change the way you view the children in your life and ministry.

Footprints under the mango tree

If you go to our recreation centre, you will find thousands of little foot prints all over the show. When I look at these prints, during a quiet time, I always smile as I think of the kid’s joyful play in this area. The kids can be so silly, it’s so cute. There are so many activities that we have running up at the centre. We do sports programs for the bigger kids, during which, the little munchkins will often come and mischievously snatch the basket ball away. I’ll admit, most of the time I will hand the ball over to them, I can’t help myself sometimes Its getting it back that’s the challenge, some of these little guys know how to run, good golly!

We have the basket ball court and the soccer field up there, and at 8am and 3pm every day, our youth director, Bertino, runs the sports program. He is really reliable. Whenever I get a chance, I go up and play with them. I’m not the best athlete, but surprisingly, the boys let me in their games. It makes me feel really special.

I really love those boys! They have all crept into my heart. They are the teenage orphans that are part of our orphanage. They are real teenagers, take chances, get into trouble, but they all are so special.

There are eight of them, they are all super different, but each of them have a special something lovely. They all help out with our Sunday school programs each week. They help with the lessons, and with controlling the kiddies. This week that passed they did a puppet show to tell the story of Jesus and Zacchaes in the tree. The little kids really love the puppets; they really get involved in what the “puppets” are saying.

Our Sunday school is always packed on a Sunday morning. Actually our churches are filled with mostly children. But a wise man once taught me that the kids are Jesus’s little evangelists. A child on fire is the best catalyst. If you could only hear the vibration in that little room when these kids sing, when they scream hallelujah! It’s intensely moving. Now imagine with me, all these children scattering after Sunday school, as little feet do, and go and play outside their huts, outside their friend’s huts, singing the praises to Jesus that they learned, all over the village…

These little foot prints in the sand are the foot prints of our little evangelists. Whenever I see these little foot prints, I feel the face of God smiling down, as a proud father, recounting the steps of His little children… Thanks you Jesus for these little babes.

I have started teaching them English words as well. Only three a day, I really love to watch their little brains soak up all they can. I have been teaching them body parts, and they really get a kick out of watching me use my body to show them the parts. I really enjoy spending time with them. And of course, play time under the mango tree is very action packed. I’ve been taken down and tickled, had ten little girls play with my hair, at the same time… and played horsy. As I said, it’s a dream come true.

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Melissa letter stirred my heart for the children.

“A child on fire is the best catalyst…Now imagine with me, all these children scattering after Sunday school, as little feet do, and go and play outside their huts, outside their friend’s huts, singing the praises to Jesus that they learned, all over the village…”

I am not child-oriented, but what a vision to grab hold of and pray into – that the children of our churches would be on fire for the Lord and that they would run out with the enthusiasm and freedom that only a child has, telling the world about this wonderful man named Jesus.

And may we adults learn from them. Jesus said:

¹⁶Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. ¹⁷I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”
Luke 18:16-17 (NLT)

The Kingdom belongs to those who are like children – eager to be near Christ and tell others about him.

To learn more about Orphans Unlimited, visit their website. It’s a great ministry to give an offering to! They steward the Lord’s money well.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 17th, 2013 at 12:47 pm and is filed under Christian Living, joy, Passion for Christ. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.