Finish What You Started!

A few days ago my wife and I were in a local sports related store here in Kalispell and were in the process of finishing up a purchase when the topic of what we do for work came up.

I grimaced as I usually do…and I know that sounds strange because I am proud to be a part of this work! But…I grimaced and I always grimace because I know that there are two very typical reactions when I tell people that we care for orphans.

One is the instant “oh look at the time” – “sorry I asked” – “oh that’s neat” – get me out of here before they ask me for money response…

The other is genuine surprise and interest that usually ends in tears and sobbing for the orphan children of the world. Both of these reactions create discomfort for all involved even though they both speak to the reality of our world and the people in it.

Apathy and genuine compassion are the two equally powerful and equally opposite responses that reflect the opponents and proponents of this desperately needed work.

But this time was different. This gentleman was surprised that such an organization existed in this small town…and was genuinely interested, but not overly emotional…a different animal so-to-speak. And that made me interested to know where the difference in attitude stemmed from. As we talked I began to sense that he had some experience with this kind of work and some skepticism as well…and then I found out why.

He had been sponsoring a child (one on one) through a very LARGE organization that has been around for a long time. He had been sponsoring this child for eight years…corresponding with him, praying for him…thinking about him quite often over the years, not to mention sending $30 per month for 96 months!

Suddenly, out of the blue, he received a letter from the organization telling him that he needed to choose a new child to sponsor because they were pulling out of the country where this child lived. He was justifiably exasperated and wanted to know why. He wrote to find out and a few days later received back a boiler plate response telling him that it was for reasons beyond their control and reiterated the need for him to choose a new child to sponsor.

So…after 8 years…dozens of letters, hundreds of prayers and nearly three thousand dollars…this child whom he and his wife had adopted into their hearts would no longer be a part of their lives…no more letters, no way of knowing what happened to him…nothing except for the knowledge that no more assistance would be given to this child…he was being abandoned and it was out of their control.

I felt deeply for him, knowing and understanding how that must feel, because it is the very reason why our organization does NOT do one to one sponsorships…and the very reason why we don’t sponsor children in their own homes where we have no idea how the money is spent. Our organization deals with children who have nobody caring for them…and we put them into our homes in a family style atmosphere and provide and care for them until they have successfully integrated into their own society.

When you correspond with the children in our care, you correspond to all of the children in the home…you see all of their profiles, know all there is to know about all of them…their dreams, their desires…their trials and their successes. And we NEVER abandon them…

You will watch them grow from young children into young adults…and then watch them go on to college (the last 19 out of 19 children graduating from our homes in three different countries) or enter the work force with skills that break the cycle that made them orphans in the first place. It’s the outcome that counts much more than the output…especially when the outcome is the difference between success and failure for them…perhaps even life and death…and when we are talking about children…each precious and unique, I believe it is our ultimate responsibility to only start what we can finish and always finish what we have started.