This is a guest post from Mandy Reiszner. She is Vice President of Coreluv International. Their mission is to defend the orphan. You can follow her blog here.
As I sat here pondering about what to write about, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Actually it was more like a punch of empathy and compassion to the gut. A punch that sparks such emotion you literally feel like buckling over onto the floor only to cry out, “WHY?” WHY are there so many orphans, so much poverty, so few resources, so many deaths? In my comfortable little life in America such emotion rarely brushes over me, but it’s here in Haiti where I realize my own great need to become better acquainted with the REST of the world. You see my life IS the minority. At least 80% of the worlds population lives on less than ten dollars a day and almost half of the world on less than two dollars and fifty cents a day. America makes up only 5% of the worlds population. IT’S GOOD to leave Kansas every once in a while!
I had the incredible privilege this past week to spend some good, quality time with the children from the Coreluv Orphanage in Gonaives, Haiti. It was a trip that Mike and I really enjoyed. At one point we found ourselves laying down in the shade with two orphans resting peacefully across our chests. In that moment I could sense the love of the Father. Oh what beauty it is just to rest in God and know that we are loved!
The more I come here, I realize the more I no longer have an excuse to turn a deaf ear to the poor. It’s not that I ever did it intentionally, but rather because I never knew THEY existed. You see I live in the OTHER direction. Does that make me despise that I’m from America? Of course not, but I look upon my life through a whole different set of lenses now. Ones that bring clarity to the fact that just maybe I was born in America to be able to help those who may not be as blessed as I am. I love this line from Mumford and Sons’ song “Awake my Soul”:
“In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die. And where you invest your love, you invest your life.”
I am reminded of Christ and his willingness to serve those He loved. This Last week was a good awakening for me and a much needed time of reflection upon WHY we do what we do!
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 