A Nation Of Orphans

So what is an ‘orphan spirit’? I would define it as a fundamental belief that one is unloved and unwanted; that one must earn the affection of those around you but will most likely never truly be good enough or desirable enough to achieve that affection. Fear of being abandoned by the people that you care about is at the root of most decisions made and attitudes held by an individual plagued by this ‘orphan spirit’. What is the most tragic result of this belief system is how one views God: as an out of touch, distant, cold and uninvolved entity who is impossible to please. A person with the ‘orphan spirit’ doesn’t grasp the wonder of God as a loving, heavenly Father who is crazy about them and relentless in His pursuit of them!

When I visited Swaziland in 2009, I sensed this ‘orphan spirit’ and was deeply affected by it. I had an overwhelming sense that God was breaking my heart for the orphans of Swaziland and urging me to re-arrange my life in order to do something about it.

After living in Swaziland with my family for three months, I am even more convinced that the Lord is calling all four of us to respond to this ‘orphan spirit’. We were there long enough to grow to not only love some of these orphans, but also to have the joy of being able to witness some of the early signs of healing and restoration that comes from welcoming them into our circle of family. We saw the transformation with many of them from not even wanting us to talk to them or touch them, to learning to trust us and allow us to actually embrace them. One example that is so alive in my memory is of little “Bhule” (whose name means “beautiful”) She comes to our care point at the base of one of the mountains surrounding Nsoko called SKheleni. The first several visits we made to SKheleni, little Bhule would run away from us and scream violently if we attempted to touch her or even bend down and say a few words to her! Her little eyes always seemed to hold shadows and her tiny mouth seemed stuck in a perpetual pout. Over time, however, she seemed more relaxed around us. She would even come over to listen to the Bible lesson or the singing we were doing with the other children. On one of our final visits to SKeleni, as we went to say our good-byes to the gogos and the kids, Bhule finally allowed us to embrace her without any tears! In fact, she climbed onto Jacob’s lap and laid her sweet head on his chest, staying there in his grasp for the entire time we spent at SKeleni that day. Her eyes still hold shadows, and I can’t say I have ever seen her smile…but what I did finally see that day was a breakthrough.

Bhule is only one little girl, in a community of hundreds of little girls who at the center of who they are just want a lap to climb up on and someone’s arms to enfold them in a tender and pure expression of protection , acceptance and love. Swaziland is a nation of boys and girls, young and old, who are longing for the Father’s embrace. Swaziland is a nation of men and women who, because of many different reasons have been deprived of that embrace. They don’t know how to shower that kind of love onto their own children or the children in their midst simply because they have never experienced it themselves.

Eric, myself, Claire and Jacob have the absolute privilege of returning to Swaziland and giving our life away in showing the Nsoko community how a family loves. Even though we are not perfect, we are an intact family! Even though we make mistakes (a lot!) we can learn through our flaws and accept the grace and forgiveness freely offered by our faith in Jesus Christ. In that process of confession and repentance we can model for the Swazi people that you do not have to come before the Father only when you have it all together…in fact, He wants us just the way we are…so that He can have His way with us! We can model a marriage centered around and built upon faith in Jesus Christ. We can model parenting centered around and built upon faith in Jesus Christ. We can extend the circle of our family. We will not only be a family who does ministry together in Swaziland! The fact that we are a family that is together IS ministry in Swaziland!

Swaziland is a nation of orphans, who long for family. Swaziland is a nation of orphans, who are hungry and desperate for the love of their Heavenly Father. We have been blessed to have grown up into the Family of God, and have accepted the gift of inheritance that comes along with being part of that Family. We are a family who has fallen in love with the people of Swaziland and we have heard the Lord asking us to give our life away in order to introduce the orphans of Swaziland, both literal and metaphorical, to their Heavenly Father. In this way, they have become part of our family. And actually, in this way they have also become part of yours.