When we traveled to Ethiopia, there were several other families also adopting from there, and one of these families had a second miracle added to their miracle of adoption that week. In Addis Ababa, there are many beggars on the streets. Some are children leading blind grandmothers; some are mothers holding small babies in rags. Some are men with deformities or mental illness. All are heartbreaking. All make my mind go to Isaiah, and God’s promises of a new Kingdom and a new King. I mean, I just see who they will be in a matter of seconds when He returns.
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So this one family met a little 13 year old girl named “S”. She beckoned to them while they were in a restaurant. They found someone who could translate, and within a few minutes, she had told them her story. She was completely alone on the streets; her father, mother, and siblings had all passed away. She asked for some food, and they gladly gave it to her; they bought her a new outfit, and she humbly stripped off her old one as they circled around her for privacy. She said, “Don’t give me any money. At night, men grab my throat and steal from me…Just take me home with you; I want you to be my mother.” The family was devastated with love for this girl, and would have adopted her if they legally could have. That evening, they went to the Samaritan’s Purse office (a ministry of Franklin Graham) and asked if there was anything this organization could do to help her. Samaritan’s Purse said they would do what they could, even though this in particular wasn’t what they do in Addis, and to ask the girl to come meet with the family at the S.P. office at 9:30 a.m. the next morning.
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They spent the night wondering if she would show up–and she did. Samaritan’s Purse had arranged for “S” to be taken to a Christian orphanage, and this family rode with her to see her new home. “S” cried and resisted once they got there, because she really wanted to go home with this American family. But “H”, the orphanage founder, begged her to stay. “S” was told that staying at the orphanage was the only way she would be safe and have what she needed. She was assured also that her new American family would take care of her from afar through gifts, any medical costs, anything she needed.
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Every update I was given about this story brought me to tears; it was so prophetic and so beautiful and so Jesus. Just so Jesus! Look at the miracles He wants to do through those who have set their heart and soul and mind on Jesus and showing the world who He is! It really hits me that this family wasn’t walking around the city actually looking for someone to help that day; they weren’t on a “fixing people” mission. But #1, they were where God told them to be. They had been called to adopt from Africa, and they followed through no matter the cost. And #2, their hearts were in line with the heart of the Lord, so when the opportunity arose, they knew what to do! They knew they would do their utmost for this child; that was a decision they had made many, many days previously when they settled in their hearts that they would be representatives of this Kingdom coming.
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This story is an allegory of a coming King, a King who will come for us orphans, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, a King who will come at the oppressors of the innocent in fiery vengeance. A King who is pent up with compassion and mercy; oh I love Him!
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The story isn’t over. The next morning after being in the orphanage all night, “H” led “S” to the Lord. “S” prayed to receive Christ, and not only redemption of her physical life but now her spiritual life, blew this thing into a story of Kingdom proportions.
