It was a few days after Christmas and I was sitting on an airplane on my way to a different country. I had just turned twenty and instead of spending my winter break resting at home, I was on my way to serve for three weeks in a Guatemalan orphanage. A lot of mixed emotions where racing through me but nervousness was the main one. While I had served on several inner city mission trips with my high school youth group, this time I would be spending three weeks away from my family, away from all the comforts of home, and away from everything that felt comfortable, to minister to children, specifically orphans, who had either been abandoned or removed from their homes for a time being.
When I started college a year and a half earlier, I began to hear about all the mission trips that my school sponsored during the breaks of winter, spring and summer. Several of my new friends told me about the amazing adventures they had experienced and the people they had built relationships with, all in the name of Christ. I had a heart for missions, mainly for serving the poor, so when I heard about the orphanage that my school supported every year, I eagerly signed up.
After about six months of training and fundraising, I was finally sitting on the plane with about 19 other fellow students. Some had been before so they knew what was coming but then there were others like me, who had no idea how my world was about to be rocked.
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It was the fourth or fifth morning we were there. Our crew was assigned to start the day by helping to begin digging the foundation for a new home they were building on the site to house more children. Our leader approached us and asked for a volunteer to go and help serve in the toddler’s house. I volunteered because as much fun as the group was having together, construction and hard manual labor in the heat of being near the equator just wasn’t my cup of tea. I went to the house and in my very broken Spanish asked how I could help. The house mom told me to take the kids to the playground for the morning to play so she could clean and make lunch. So off I went with about a dozen young children who didn’t speak a word of English, nor Spanish for that matter.
Off they scattered to play on the playground while many clung around me for attention. I pushed some on the swing, chased some around the slide and laughed with them even though we had no idea what the other was trying to communicate. After a while I noticed a small young boy sitting on a bench. I went and sat down next to him and smiled. He stared at me with his big brown eyes and slowly started to scoot next to me on the bench. I would later find out his nickname was “Lencho” and throughout the remaining two weeks we were there, he quickly stole my heart.
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I spent less with three weeks with him, yet I still find myself thinking and wondering whatever happened to him. When I returned back to the orphanage the following December, he wasn’t there anymore. I was disappointed but then relieved when I learned that he had been reunited with his family. I have no idea what his home life was like but I had to believe that he was one of the “lucky ones” that got to go home. There were so many children that spend their entire childhood living at the orphanage, and while the home was a wonderful, loving ministry that tried their best to show the love of God to these children, they still didn’t have a family to call their own.
I haven’t traveled to any orphanages since my college days. I graduated and began my short career as an elementary school teacher in a low-socioeconomic area before becoming a mother myself. I always had a mix bag of students, some came from loving homes, some came from homes with no parental attention and then there were always the few who stole my heart with their stories of being moved from home to home.
While teaching I was reminded that I don’t have to travel out of the country to minister to the orphans, they are right here in our own communities. I would gather donations of coats and gloves for them when the weather turned cooler, provide countless school supplies when they came to school empty handed, and do my best to show them that someone cared for them at least for the 7 hours they spent in my classroom on a daily basis.
Usually when we hear the term “Orphan Care” our minds often go to the orphanages and children of third world countries. While those children definitely need our love, support and prayers, we can’t forget about the children who also live close to home. I’m currently not in a season of my life where I can travel the globe but I am in a place where I can serve and give locally. Acts of service, donations and prayers are the main ways that I can show God’s love to those who need it most. It doesn’t take much effort to show compassion and love, yet all too often I get lost in the business of everyday life.
One of my heart’s desires is to pass on a love for people, especially children, to my own kids. I want them to not only develop a heart of love and serving other but to also want to take action and do something. Currently we are collecting supplies for our Operation Christmas Child boxes. As they get older hopefully I can find other ways for them to serve as well. Maybe someday we’ll take a mission trip as a family, or perhaps God has something bigger planned.
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I remember leaving the orphanage to return home. Tears stained my cheeks. Those three weeks serving and loving the unloved and unwanted broke my heart. It changed me, God began molding my heart and planting seeds. I don’t know if God’s plans ever involve our family to actually adopt any children in the future but I do know He calls us to love, serve and be doers of the word according to James 1:22-27. I hope that I am modeling that command to my children and helping them develop hearts to love and serve others as well.
Victoria Osborn has been married to her best friend for seven years and is a mother to two very active and energetic toddlers who keep her on her toes most days! She loves Jesus, writing, coffee and all things book related. You can find her writing at Creative Home Keeper where she desires to share tips and encouragement for living simply, intentional and inspired. Her first eBook, Simply Dressed: Inspiration to Dress for the {Everyday} Ordinary Days is now available on Amazon.
It has been over a year since I spent 10 days in Guatemala and for some reason I have never really been able to write about my time there. It’s ten days I will never forget and every memory is etched in my heart, and maybe for me that is where it’s meant to stay. But your post touched my heart deeply. Thank you for sharing here, Victoria. Blessings.