Today the children spoke without saying a word! They spoke with their eyes as they looked, stared and questioned their surroundings. They spoke with their expressions as some smiled, others looked down or away and still others had a look of puzzlement. They spoke with their body language as some rushed forward to get as close as possible and others fell back to just blend in among the many others. Today the children sp
oke without saying a word. I am here visiting at the Safe Home Children Village, an orphanage here in Flehla, Liberia where over 60 children are now being cared for. They range in age from 2 years up to 14 years of age. And everyone of them has a story that is different, unique, sad, heart wrenching and in some cases just plain pitiful.
Many are orphans because of the sixteen years of war that ravaged this country. Mother’s, Father’s, siblings, killed in a senseless war where no one succeeded. Other’s came here from the death of a mother at childbirth and now there is no one to care for them. Other’s came from homes where they were neglected, abused and used in ways I cannot describe nor discuss.
And still others came from abandonment; children abandoned to fend for themselves in a hard hard world. Take little Benjamin; now six years of age. He was found, abandoned, living in a garbage dump and sleeping in the African bush all alone. He survived for over six months on what little he could salvage to eat in the garbage dump, and trust me, this if Africa where not much of any use it discarded to the dump.
As a result of his treatme
nt, he has some mental challenges, but each day as I would come to the home, he would follow me around and say; “Take my picture, take my picture.” Starved for attention, starved for someone to just care for him and show them that he is loved.
But thanks be to God for little Benjamin and all the other children that have been brought to this Safe Home Children Village where they are loved and cared for. Each day they are fed, bathed and clothed, go to school and receive the medical attention that they would have never received before.
And so each day as I came and visited at the Safe Home Children’s Village; the children spoke to me, and often times without saying a word. They spoke with their eyes, their actions, their gestures and with their little smiles of joy. And by the end of the week of visiting with them, playing games with them, walking and talking with them, I wished that I could bring every one of them home with me. While that is not possible, I am just thankful that they are now at a place where they are cared for, loved and shown the love of Christ.
And even though I could not bring them all home with me, I promised them that I would carry their picture home with me. Th
at each day I would look at their smiling little faces and say a special prayer just for them and their care givers. A prayer for the Safe Home Children Village and for what it is doing to give these children a chance in life that they might have never had otherwise.Today the Children spoke to me!
And it changed my life forever!
