Orphans with Potential

Since the mid-1990's, I've been supporting former street kids in an
orphanage in Kenya through Christian Aid Mission. These are kids
whose parents have died (usually of AIDS) and are left to fend for
themselves and their siblings on the streets. The orphanage that
Christian Aid Mission supports finds these kids, feeds and shelters
them, and then gives those who are interested training in Christianity
and in a trade.

Every six months, I receive pictures and report cards on my kids.
Earlier this year, with the youngest of them turning 18, I asked
Christian Aid Mission to assign me to a new batch of kids. I got my
first pictures of them this weekend. They are all between 7 and 10,
about as old as my first batch when I first got to know them. With
the first group, I was consistent in my financial support but not in
my prayers. I will try to do better with the second group.

After all, I have seen with the first group what a steady diet of
food, love, and Christian instruction will do; all of them are trained
in vocation and follow Jesus faithfully. I have also seen what food,
love, and Christian instruction will do in my very own home, as we see
our daughter, who was once left on the street, flourishing physically,
cognitively, and socially. If our Jada can blossom, I think to myself
as I look at the pictures of these street kids, then so can they.