Child of a King

Eyes as wide as saucers, that is what I noticed about this sweet boy the first time I met him. The language barrier was somehow bridged by his gentle spirit and his wide-eyed smile. This sweet young boy had been abandoned by his mother recently when she and her new husband moved to a new town and left him behind. A neighbour brought him to the gates of Eagles Wings Children’s Village and that is where I met him.

There are many things I don’t understand about this foreign land that has become my home. As I struggle to make sense of this new life around me, I am reminded that in every corner of the earth we all live with deep and broken places among us. 

I once heard a man who works with victims of sex trafficking in Cambodia say that even the very best trauma recovery and rehabilitation programs can at best cobble together a life that is functional. But only the redeeming love of Jesus can take a life full of brokenness and make it whole. Only He can restore Joy and Love in a life that has been broken and battered.  Because His wounds heal ours, His love erases shame, and reminds us we are children of a King. We hold incredible worth.

And so as I look at this precious boy, I see in him hope and a chance at new life. His excitement at learning to read, his streaming tears of joy at spending his very first Christmas morning with present under the tree, they remind me not to overlook the simple pleasures I so often take for granted. Perhaps as he grows and begins to understand his story a bit more he may have to cling onto that redeeming love, to cling hard and to believe that he has been chosen as the son of a King. To be made whole and to take hold of this new life he’s been given and to remember his identity and sense of self is made new at the foot of the cross.

One thing that excites me so much is seeing  the older children becoming leaders and building into the lives of others.

Learning to Read and Write