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Four days.

That’s how long we worked and toiled.  That was the small price for the open door.  Only four days.

The setting was Kechene Orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a state-run secular orphanage with around 100 kids from infants to teenagers.  Nearly 70% were teenage girls with few staff to supervise these  rambunctious youth.

Four days.

The task was clear: to work and serve, all the while praying for God to open the door to share the Gospel in this orphanage with no religious affiliation at all.  The work they gave us was enormous: to clean up the massive grounds of the orphanage.  From  years of neglect piles of trash littered the beautiful property.  I say beautiful because we were all looking at it through the eyes of faith.  We could see the potential; and God gave us eyes to see the potential in each of the youth as well.

Four days.  We worked.  Hard.  We cleared, we cleaned, we separated, and we burned.  We made a pile for the items the kids could sell, such as wood, branches, metal, and tires.  The rest we burned.  In between loads we played with the kids.  Some--even Remi and I--had their hair braided.  We loved on the kids and we waited for an open door.  

Four days.  At the end of that time the children were so touched by our hard work and interaction with one another, but most of all by our attention and love, that they did not want us to go.

And then the door opened.

The director of the orphanage asked us to share.  First some testimonies, next the gospel message, and then some worship.  The kids began to weep.  Many accepted Jesus.  Seeds were planted and watered and brought to life.  

Soon we all began to weep.  God showed up and many were saved and touched.

A small price: four days.

Lord, give us eyes to see the potential in every person we meet and each endeavor you give us. May we always have a ready heart to serve and to pray, all the while waiting for Your open door.  May our actions always speak louder than our words, and may our lives be a living testimony of the Gospel.  Amen.

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