Orphan Sunday: Two Girls

*This was written shortly before I went to China for the first time in 2009. As I am currently preparing to return to China to serve at a foster home the story of these girls and their impact in my life rings even truer. 

One of the hardest parts of being a Christian can be having faith. The idea of having faith in something that we can’t see can be hard to understand, and even harder to grasp. One of my friends at college shared her favorite quote with me on many occasions, Faith is not knowing that God can, but that God will. - Norm Patton.  Throughout the Bible we see examples of how important faith really is.

Imagine being a shunned by society, never being able to go out on your own, if at all, but, you know that if you close enough to touch this man they call Jesus you will be healed, and finally after so many years be able to live a normal life. Or you are a prominent man whose daughter is very sick. The only thing you know to do is find Jesus, for He can heal your daughter.

These who people come from completely different backgrounds, completely different lives. The one thing they have in common is their faith. Jesus says to the women, “daughter, your faith has healed you” and to the father “Don’t be afraid, just believe.” They both believed not that God can….they knew that God would heal, they had faith when those around them lacked.

Having faith often happens when you have no idea what the end result will be. The story of the little girl who everyone thought was dead in the Gospel leads me to introduce you to two little girls who have played a vital role in keeping my faith strong, and even testing my faith. These two girls started their lives very much the same, but I came to know them in very different ways. These two little girls were placed in orphanages on opposite sides of the world, which began their journeys toward me.

My journey toward the first of these girls began in high school when I desperately wanted to go on a mission trip. Opportunities came up, but just as quickly passed as I had to have faith that God was planning the perfect trip for me to be a part of. Finally my chance came, and I was ready to head to Leon Mexico, not fully knowing what to expect, but I had complete faith that God was planning awesome things, and was ready to use me and the rest of the team.

That was when the first little girl came into my life. Her name is Luz, and there is still not a day that goes by that I do not think of her. She captured my heart, and even though I didn't know it at the time, she worked her way into my life, opening my eyes to the world around me, and planting the idea of mission work deep inside of me. When I returned home, I knew my life had changed forever, but only God knew where it would go from there.

Shortly after I returned I babysat for dear friends of mine. I had prayed for their sweet little girl for months and was beyond excited that she was finally in her forever home and thriving. As I held and played with this little girl, who had been adopted from China, my thoughts drifted back to a few weeks before, when I was doing the same things with my little girl from Mexico, and how much they reminded me of each other. That day I had no idea how much their impact on my life would be intertwined.

Before Kristen was adopted I really didn't give much thought to China, other than it would be pretty cool to get a chance to visit there someday. After praying for her, and then meeting her I knew that had changed. She captured my heart as quickly as Luz did, and I began to hear a small, still voice. God had placed China in my heart, counting on me to have faith to follow His lead. My thoughts quickly gravitated towards giving another child a chance, by adopting a child from China in the future. Little did I know that God was already planning to use me in much bigger ways, and was slowly preparing my heart for this life changing experience.

Nothing is possible without faith. In Matthew Jesus tells us, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” We are not called to have all of the faith in the world; our faith just has to be the size of a mustard seed. God can, and will work through any situation he has to when we have faith that He will. By taking just one small step of Faith, God takes as many steps necessary to see His will completed for those who believe.