Loving the Least of These

Not a day goes by that I don’t think about the children from the orphanage in Shantou. And, inevitably, Audio Adrenaline’s song “Kings and Queens” rings through my head as I pray about my experience there and for those children. “Will we leave behind the innocent to grieve?” “These could be our daughters and our sons” "When we love the least of these” “These are the lives that world has forgotten. Waiting for our hearts and homes to open.” “If not us, who will be like Jesus to the least of these?”... “When we love the least of these”. Who are “the least of these”? To me, it’s the children in the Shantou Social Welfare Institute (SWI, aka, orphanage). My trip to China has forever changed my perspective-about orphan care, about international adoption. It has forever changed my life. Todd and I knew we would adopt again. Soon. We talked about beginning the adoption process again this time last year. I prayed for God to show us the right time. The right agency. The right path. Never in a million years did I think He would take me to China. We imagined we would adopt another African American child, maybe an infant, but maybe a little older. We thought for sure we would adopt domestically. International adoption was not on our radar AT ALL. But then, God called me to China. And introduced me to so many amazing children. “The least of these”. The ones “the world has forgotten”. The ones who are “waiting for our hearts and our homes to open”. The ones who “could be our daughters and our sons”. He introduced me to several children who stole my heart. But there was one special boy who God placed heavily upon my heart. A boy who desperately needs a home. Soon. Or he will be forgotten forever. In less than two years, he will be 14. And when that happens, he’s no longer adoptable. What will happen to him then? Where will he go? He’s 12 now. He has Down syndrome. His American name is “Zack.” He was nicknamed “The Mayor” by another team that visited the orphanage earlier this year. He was a leader. He was full of joy and so eager to learn. He was so desperate for a family. He told me and my teammates (several times) that he “hungers for a mother, father, and three brothers.” How incredibly heart-wrenching. But it wasn’t until I returned home that I realized what God really wanted for me. For our family. You see, I originally went to China with the intentions of sharing my professional knowledge with the orphanage staff, but I knew. Deep down, I knew that there was a possibility, that God may have a different plan in mind. So I prayed. I prayed that if it was God’s will for me to adopt one of these children that he would show me the child he intended to be our daughter or son. I pictured a little toddler or a child who would run up to me with open arms and give me a big ole hug. A little toddler who sought me out, who would choose me, so I wouldn’t have to choose, but that didn’t happen. Not a single cute, cuddly little child ran up to me. After returning home, I prayed about the trip. Everyday. What did God want from me? Why did he send me on that mission trip? Then one morning, God whispered to me during prayer, “Adopt the Mayor.” I’m sorry, God. I don’t think I heard you correctly. You want us to adopt a 12 year old boy? What about our 3 year old daughter? No way. I must not have heard you correctly. What about the little three-year old boy with Downs. He was cute and cuddly. We could adopt him. But every day, Zack’s picture stared back at me. The one we made together during the craft time while we were there. And I soon realized that, indeed, God did answer that prayer in China. A child did seek me out. He wasn’t a cute, cuddly little toddler. He wasn’t running up to me giving me hugs. He was a 12 year old boy. But he definitely sought me out. He pulled me by the hand and motioned for me to sit next to him. He wanted to be my partner at the park. He saved me a seat on the bus. He retrieved a chair and strategically placed it next to his and led me to that seat. He requested me to sing “Wheels on the Bus” umpteen times. He most definitely sought me out. Each and every day. He chose me. “Yes,” said God, “Adopt the Mayor.” Okay. Even if you convince me, Todd will NEVER go for this. How do I even bring it up? And every day, as I prayed, it all came back to Zack. I also prayed that God would shut a door. If I was hearing him wrong. If I was taking the wrong path. And so I decided to begin researching agencies and cost and emailed America World to find out more information about these boys. Turns out the three-year-old has been matched with a family. What wonderful news! But, a door was shut. Once again, back to Zack. In church a few weeks ago, the Gospel reading was from Matthew 25:31-46. In Matthew 25:40 Jesus says “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40). But what shouted out to me were verses 44-45, “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” When I was in China, I saw Jesus. I stared right into the face of Jesus in every one of those children I met. Hungry. Thirsty. In need of clothing. Sick and in prison. A stranger in need of a home. I fed him. Held him. Rocked him. Held his hand. Sang to him. And in the end, it comes down to this…how do you say “no” to Jesus? When you saw him and you know you did. How do you say, “No God, I know you need food, clothing, and shelter, but I will NOT give those things to you?” So I told Todd, “I think we’re supposed to adopt Zack.” His response? “No.” I asked him to pray about it, specifically about Zack. “Okay, I thought, “Maybe this was God shutting a door.” But two days later he changed his mind. So here we are. If not us, who will be like Jesus to the least of these? To Zack? If not us, who? Maybe nobody. So we made a decision. We will love the least of these. We will give him food, clothing, and shelter. We will do this for Jesus. We will try to adopt Zack as our son. And so begins our journey. We are just in the beginning phase right now. We are currently reviewing his file and won't be officially "matched" with him until after our home study is completed. We would like to invite you to be a part of our journey. We will be posting updates along the way. Follow our journey by jumping over to our old blog www.toddandtaraadoption.blogspot.com and be sure to enter your email address if you want to get the updates by email. We are so excited to see how this story will unfold and to share God's amazing work and miracles with you.