Bombed out vehicles lined the streets as far as your eyes could see. Buildings were decimated by fire and bullets and overflowing with squatters.
Just five years ago, when we first came into Liberia, 14 years of civil war had turned Africa’s beacon of prosperity to ruins.
With each trip back since 2005, it has been amazing to see all the structural development. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has been working hard over the last four years to bring restoration to this completely destroyed country.
As far as our work with the orphan children, it has been a slow process in seeing justice prevail. The government is working on new policies so that the homes with corrupt or abusive directors can be legally closed, but this has been a long process and is still taking too much time. On the other hand, we are seeing amazing results in those homes with wonderful, trustworthy directors, yet the kids suffer terribly due to the circumstances of poverty. Through God’s guidance and our amazing staff on the ground, we are having wonderful results with them.
Each day I am surrounded by orphan children starving for affection and love, children who have been discarded by society. My heart breaks for them. They’re desperate, they crave whatever attention they can get.
One such a day last week, God revealed to me a beautiful illustration of His love.
After spending the afternoon at a very needy home leaning down and kissing the sweet little dirty cheeks of neglected children, I stopped by the mansion of the former President of Liberia.
After driving through his security gate lined with men with machine guns, it was evident that he was a very important man here in this country, and I was driving into another world.
In greeting President Blah, I kissed him on each cheek, which is the custom here. He greeted me with a great, warm welcome. We had a wonderful time listening to his stories of God’s faithfulness in keeping him alive through the war and the many death threats and hardships after the civil war ended. It was such an honor to sit and listen to him, and as I left his home, I began to have an epiphany regarding what had just happened in those last few hours.
Within one hour, I went from kissing the cheeks of orphan children, who are the lowest in society here in Africa, to kissing the cheek of the former President, who is esteemed as the highest in society.
God began to reveal His heart through this picture: In most parts of the world people are valued according to what part of society they come from, yet God regards each human life with incredible value and worth. Every single person is priceless, irreplaceable. He intensely loves each equally. God values the orphans the same as he values those from the highest in society such as a President.
May we always strive to value all those in our path as God does. And may we see how our simple acts of mercy can truly change the destiny of someone else’s life..
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