God cares for orphans, Part 3

Recently I was talking with Galina, the orphanage counselor whom I tutor in English. I update the database of kids in the orphanage who are eligible for our hosting program, so sometimes I ask Galina to clarify about certain kids. This time she told me that two more of the kids are being adopted (by Americans), along with their older brother from another orphanage.

“Soon we will have no kids and the orphanage will close!” she said sadly. I immediately thought of our prayers for the orphanages to close. It is in some ways a joyous thought, but for someone like Galina, it is a sad one. It truly takes great sacrifice to love kids who may be adopted by others or will simply graduate and go out into the world. Some are moved to other orphanages as well. Therefore, many orphanage staff members who seem harsh are simply trying to keep a little emotional distance between themselves and children they might lose.

I am constantly amazed by orphanage workers who pour their lives out for the children. The pay is not enough to keep them there. There is not much reward. And I wonder, other than faith in God, what could possibly motivate them? Not that the human race is devoid of compassion, but what could give them the strength to go on serving in the way that they do? God works in surprising ways and uses the people we’d least expect, in order to save lives.

In fact, maybe he will use some of those same people to place orphans in families. I have heard people who care for orphans say that they would adopt a child themselves, BUT… (and here are a list of factors including finances and jealousy of other children in the group). But these are the people who have the heart and experience for caring for wounded children. If they were given a chance, they could become more than a caregiver. They could give an uprooted child a second chance at having a family.