Stop and Stare...

8:41pm Ghana time

Turns out when you stop and stare at this world...it hurts.

This morning I woke up at 5 and went to the Eugemont orphanage to help bathe the kids. The orphanage has 48 kids and two adults trying to take care of them. As soon as I got there, a girl named Sarah latched on to me (go figure--there's a million Sarahs everywhere, but at least people remember my name instead of calling me Yavo [white person] like everyone else gets, haha). Sarah took me on a tour of their small house, with at least ten kids crammed into each room.

She showed me the baby room. Shoved into the back of the house, it was a concrete floor with two adult-sized beds they lay the babies on to sleep. When I walked in, they were all awake, but the adults had no idea, because the door is kept shut at all times. A little baby named Lucas, probably 8 months, was lying on the bed and I went over to tickle and play with him. His entire face lit up into a huge smile, as if he hadn't seen love before.

The older babies had somehow managed to get off the beds and onto the concrete floor without knocking themselves out, and were running around in the mess that was all over the concrete (they can't afford diapers for the kids, and don't bother with them at all).

I had a great time bathing the kids. They all stand outside on a concrete block, and I poured a bucket of water over their heads, scrubbed them down with soap, dried them off, lotioned them, and started all over again. 48 times. But it was great, because I got to actually spend time with each of the kids. They all have names, and stories, and favorites, and need to be told they are the most beautiful child in all the world. But they don't know.

I want each child here to know they are special. That they are individual, and more than the 48th child that needs to be fed and clothed. If they like to sing, or dance, or write, I want to hear about it. They are worthy of being loved for just being who they are. Here they are taught that the only way to earn attention is to fulfill a formula...obedience + academic excellence. Nothing else matters.

I wish I could inspire them. Show them that they are a precious child of God. That when everyone else forgets them, they are still number one on His list. But it's hard to teach God's love to children that are never kissed goodnight.