by Natalie, DTS student
(photo from CARF)
She was dressed in red, and itty bitty, about the size of my two-year-old daughter. And she was digging in the trash. My heart broke.
We were in Laos, shopping, when I noticed the children begging. I was drawn to them all, but this one girl in red grabbed my attention.
I went to her, gave her food, and hugged her. I began to cry. I kept whispering to her, “I love you, I love you, I love you.”
At that moment I was reminded of something Jill had shared about hugging and loving the children on behalf of Jesus himself. I was overwhelmed with compassion for this little one. “She is so precious to Jesus,” I thought.
I realized my tears were starting to cause a scene, so I walked away for a bit. Later, I tried to find the girl again to give her more food, but I didn’t see her anywhere.
“Please help me find that baby in red!” I prayed. As I walked down the road, I saw a huge red flower that had fallen on the side of the dirt road. It made me pause, and in that quiet space, I felt like God said to me, “whatever you have done for them, you have done for me.”
I finally found the girl again. She was with her mother (who was getting high), her younger brother, and many other children. The children begged me for food but I didn’t think I had enough for them all. I rifled through my bag and discovered oatmeal bars and fruit snacks–more food than I thought!
Naptime is over….Natalie holds one of the newly-wakened kids at the children’s home in Thailand.
The kids loved it when I popped the fruit snacks right into their mouths, one by one. They giggled every time…even the boys! I pulled out some baby wipes and washed their grimy faces and hands. They laughed and pointed at the person getting cleaned up–until it was their turn. They were so funny and I could tell they loved the attention.
Before I left, I took pictures with them. I gave the girl in red my head band to wear and a smile lit up her face. I love her so much. It was difficult to go but I am glad to have met these Laotian children. They taught me so much about God’s heart. God loves ALL – He has so much compassion! I was overwhelmed to feel just a small part of what God feels.
God chooses to love and care for others through ME, that’s huge!