I stared out of our car’s window as we sped along the country road; in the foreground was the country road that passed by as a grey and brown blur. Further out, fields stretched into the distance; small plants appeared as specks of green mingled amongst the brown of the earth. In the distance dark mountains loomed, their white tops hidden within clouds that gave evidence to rising air. It was early in the day and the sun had become increasingly hot. Our western white skin which was more accustomed to humidity rather than potency. We were on our way to the first destination of the trip: an orphanage in a nearby city. I had never seen an orphanage before, so right from the get-go I knew that this was going to be a very unique opportunity and experience. At that time, I wasn’t aware of how orphanages operated in other countries let alone in Kazakhstan. I had no clue what to expect other than children.
As we entered the grounds of the orphanage, my heart rate quickened. It stood behind a small group of trees, but as the building came into view it revealed several floors of windows. The first thing I noted was how it didn’t look like what I thought an orphanage looked like (why I thought it would look like Oliver Twist’s orphanage, I have no idea).
We began to
set up our instruments on a section of pavement wedged between the side of the
building and a fence. The wind was of
moderate strength (blowing a fine dust around us) and the trees provided shade,
both of these things gave us relief from the heat of the powerful sun. I found myself thinking, I have come thousands of kilometres, over several seas and countries,
to this place, to meet these people and serve them, to love them…wow.
I quickly found out what an orphanage is supposed to look like. Our band was setup and ready to play, but we were told to wait. Minutes later, bells rang and dozens upon dozens of children came outside and stood before us. I was shocked, amazed, terrified. Everything happened so quickly. We were given the signal to play and before long, the show finished with our team’s drama.
That day I realized that an orphanage is represented by the faces of the children that live in it. These children are unquestionably valuable and precious to God, but to the world they are not viewed as such.
In the modern era, the world has changed and still changes with great speed. Families don’t have the same type of pressures upon them as they did in the pre-industrial age, but all families still have some form of pressure (some more than others). Kazakhstan is not as wealthy a country as Canada or the United States. A result of this is that some parents cannot afford to keep their children, so instead they give them to orphanages. These children are raised and schooled by the orphanages and occasionally, their parents will come by to meet with them. Other children are abandoned completely.
Adoption is not necessarily
viewed as a positive thing either. Many do
not want to adopt because they would rather have a child of their own. This could be said to be a western mindset as
well and, I would suggest, a mindset that permeates every country at some level
or another.
The concert ended and everyone began initiating conversations or packing up. As I was wrapping up a bundle of cords a small group of boys came up to me, one of them holding a soccer ball. They spoke to me in Russian (which I did not understand beyond pleasantries) and luckily there was a translator nearby.
“Can you play soccer with us?” they asked.
My heart sank as I knew our time there was very limited. I just smiled and responded, “Maybe after we are done putting these things away.”
Of the things I regret from my trip to Kazakhstan, those words I regret the most for those faces were the faces of orphans who wanted acceptance and love and in my blindness I passed them by, favouring my own agenda. I am reminded of the illustrative list Christ gives in Matt 25 (v35,36) of the needs that require filling in the world. In some way I feel that by passing up an opportunity to love these children, I passed an opportunity to love Christ.
The truth is that the very aspect of western culture that I despised, the elevation of time and success’ value over the value of human relationships, was a part of me as well. All of the anger that I felt towards my own culture, my own society, my own Church…it rested upon my shoulders and I became humbled by the realization of my own blindness and hypocrisy. That realization changed the way I perceived myself.
I quickly found out what an orphanage is supposed to look like. Our band was setup and ready to play, but we were told to wait. Minutes later, bells rang and dozens upon dozens of children came outside and stood before us. I was shocked, amazed, terrified. Everything happened so quickly. We were given the signal to play and before long, the show finished with our team’s drama.
That day I realized that an orphanage is represented by the faces of the children that live in it. These children are unquestionably valuable and precious to God, but to the world they are not viewed as such.
In the modern era, the world has changed and still changes with great speed. Families don’t have the same type of pressures upon them as they did in the pre-industrial age, but all families still have some form of pressure (some more than others). Kazakhstan is not as wealthy a country as Canada or the United States. A result of this is that some parents cannot afford to keep their children, so instead they give them to orphanages. These children are raised and schooled by the orphanages and occasionally, their parents will come by to meet with them. Other children are abandoned completely.
Adoption is not necessarily
viewed as a positive thing either. Many do
not want to adopt because they would rather have a child of their own. This could be said to be a western mindset as
well and, I would suggest, a mindset that permeates every country at some level
or another.The concert ended and everyone began initiating conversations or packing up. As I was wrapping up a bundle of cords a small group of boys came up to me, one of them holding a soccer ball. They spoke to me in Russian (which I did not understand beyond pleasantries) and luckily there was a translator nearby.
“Can you play soccer with us?” they asked.
My heart sank as I knew our time there was very limited. I just smiled and responded, “Maybe after we are done putting these things away.”
Of the things I regret from my trip to Kazakhstan, those words I regret the most for those faces were the faces of orphans who wanted acceptance and love and in my blindness I passed them by, favouring my own agenda. I am reminded of the illustrative list Christ gives in Matt 25 (v35,36) of the needs that require filling in the world. In some way I feel that by passing up an opportunity to love these children, I passed an opportunity to love Christ.
The truth is that the very aspect of western culture that I despised, the elevation of time and success’ value over the value of human relationships, was a part of me as well. All of the anger that I felt towards my own culture, my own society, my own Church…it rested upon my shoulders and I became humbled by the realization of my own blindness and hypocrisy. That realization changed the way I perceived myself.
I understand
that people reading this will most likely never be changed by my words. That is because the reflection of my
experiences can only appeal to the experiences that individual people have had
in their lives. If you have never
experienced the emptiness that is caused by abandonment, then you cannot full
grasp what is it like to be an orphan; however, I believe that all of us who
know Christ know what it is like to be spiritual orphans and what it is like to
find an adopted parent in our Father who has taken us as His children!
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