This orphanage me and Marvelly go to....

Marvelly and I visited a local orphanage for the first time a few Wednesday's ago. Two friends of mine here, Rebecca and Christa, volunteer at this orphanage, which is how I found out about it. Christa has lived in Burkina since February and has been volunteering here every week for a good while and a couple weeks ago I tagged along with her to check it out.

I admit I was nervous. I've never visited an orphanage before. I didn't know what to expect the first time. I didn't know how the kids would respond to me. Or Marvelly. Or how Marvelly would handle it. I wasn't sure what I should do. I had so many thoughts swirling around my head. The butterflies in my stomach were intense.

I knew this was another time when I would have to step out of my comfort zone; facing a very new and needy situation, completely unfamiliar, no way to adequately verbally communicate with the kids or the staff, feeling very inadequate and limited, feeling pressure from the responsibility I've been blessed with to love them well....

...dwelling on challenges has a very real way of choking what God wants to accomplish through us. So, I just decided it all didn't matter. I was still going to go....nervous or not.

So, I bathed the visit in prayer, I let myself feel nervous, but then surrendered my apprehension, jitters, and insecurities to the Lord, and when I stepped out of the car and the kids came peeking out from behind the wall...
just like that....
no more jitters.
No more apprehension.
Just....perfect peace.

With every step I took towards the kids looking back at me with questioning, curious eyes, the Lord gave me a reassurance and confidence that comes from knowing He was stepping with me. A confidence that comes from knowing I carry a light. A light that is not extinguishable. And no matter what I say or don't say, or do or don't do...just being there, I'm bringing hope with me.

And that little lady down there is bringing it with her too. At all of four years old...she's learning how to usher in His light. And she's doing it with nothing more than a crayon. If there is one lesson that God has been teaching me over and over since moving here it is that all we have to be is willing...and God can take our small offering and multiply it beyond comprehension. Bubblegum and crayons are some pretty small offerings...but He's taking that and using a child to minister to children. It was a sweet time.....difficult, but sweet.
Three Wednesday's ago, the first day we came, I brought along two extra boxes of crayons we had and a coloring book for the kids. Since it was election week the older kids did not have school so me and Marvelly and many of the older children gathered on the patio to attempt at coloring.

Mostly they just ate the crayons. :~)Who knew wax was so tasty?!?!

And as we sat outside and colored for much of the morning...a rapport was established. Hands were held. Laps were climbed in. Armpit tickles were issued. Laughter abounded. Hurt feelings were soothed. Tears were wiped away.

After a while of playing it was lunch time. So we headed inside to help feed the kids. After lunch the kids go potty and then lay down for siesta time, which is when we leave.

The following Wednesday we came back again. Marvelly got right to work playing with the new friends she met last time and was the biggest helper in feeding the babies. It's not always easy for her to see all the kids climbing on me and vying for my attention, so I make sure to give her special jobs while we are serving at the orphanage, to make her feel useful and important too.

And she's quite good with the kids. Marvelly is much more cautious when it comes to doing new things and takes a little longer to feel comfortable in new environments....so being here is just as good for her as it is for the kids she serves. And she's doing great. After our first visit she asked when we could go back, particularly excited to see this little man again.

She spends a lot of her time with him...holding him, singing to him, helping him roll over, playing with his legs and wiggling his arms while she smiles and talks to him.

While we were there last Wednesday they told us that on Thursday they were going to be having a special Christmas party for the kids, and they were inviting some of the local neighbors to attend as well.

Well, we were not about to miss that, so we offered to make some Christmas cookies and come back the next morning. When we got home I thought about bringing some balloons for the kids to kick around, but most of them had holes in them...."What is up with this balloon?!"

So I scratched the balloon idea and we just made dozens of Christmas cookies instead!

I also, just happen to have gotten a box in the mail from Kristine that day which had a box of candy canes in them! I opened the box, ate one and savored the taste, took out one for the girls, and then took the rest and brought them for the kids.

That's right. Sharing the joy of Christmas in a sugary peppermint stick!

The gal in yellow is Madame Patricia. She started this orphanage and runs it still. She is a Christian as well as most of the women who work here.
Patricia and the workers got up at 3am that morning to start decorating and getting things ready for this Christmas party. (most of the workers attended this party, but only three of them work a shift at a time.)

They hung balloons. They popped popcorn and made special little boxes of goodies for the kids.

They even set up a tree. In the back there was a drum set that played along as we sang songs and clapped.

Out on the patio were many local neighbors and their children that Patricia invited. Patricia bought each family that came a new blanket and some other basic necessities.

Then she shared the gospel with them and fed them all lunch. 

It was an absolutely marvelous day. ( yesterday I found out this day held something else in store...but I will write more on that later..)

We love coming here.