At 5 am each morning I awoke to African children singing songs to God right outside my window. This was the daily routine before they would head off to school. In my guest quarters at the newly constructed orphanage home in Benin, I could not believe what I was hearing in the voodoo capital of the world! Passionate songs and prayers were coming from these children who not long ago were rescued from terrible circumstances. I was completely in awe of these fifty-three lives who have experienced incredible transformations in only a little over a year of being in this home.
Recently I went to Benin to check on the orphanage we partnered with a Swiss gentlemen to build. The social welfare department had been asking us for three years to build a safe home for the many orphans in terrible situations. Through a series of miracles this project was completed October 2008. The Mayor donated the land which allowed us to expedite this process.
The home is exclusively for those who have no living parents and who are in very difficult situations. Many of the children brought to the home were used as domestic servants by relatives as well as were being physically and sexually abused.
A good friend who was raised in the West, accepted full ownership and leadership of this new home. Each child is being raised knowing that God loves them, and wants a relationship with them.
The magnitude of what God has already done in each of their lives is unbelievable. The stories some of these children can tell about where they have come from is like out of an Indiana Jones movie. It is hard to believe all that these kids have gone through in the voodoo rituals alone. Voodoo temples are on ever block of this town, and a deep heaviness is felt very strong there.
These kids are now free and so full of life! They have a different countenance than other children in this area. They have life in their eyes.
We have great relationships with the government and social welfare office, and on this trip we were given an amazing letter of recommendation to anyone who may need a reference of credibility. They also gave us (Orphan Relief and Rescue) their complete favor to do anything we would like to do in the future with regards to the welfare of children in their town.
The social welfare department continues to ask for more help for the many more children in need, so we daily are asking God for wisdom with these requests.
I just got an email from the pastor who was my translator during my time there. He said this last month a man was just caught and put in jail for kidnapping and killing ten, eleven year old girls using them for his rituals close to the orphanage home. Using human sacrifices has been outlawed for 14 years now, but it is still being done, and children are not of value in this area. We are working to bring change to all that!!
My heart is so full as I begin to fathom the magnitude of what we get to do with God in partnership with all of you. Thank you for saying ‘Yes’ with us.
