Not Abandoned But Adored

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands."

-Isaiah 49:15-16

"They were abandoned four years ago."

These words cut to the heart. Sitting in front of us is a six-year-old boy, wearing only a dirty shirt. He has no use of his legs, so he uses the strength in his arms to pull his body across the ground to get where he wants to go. His sisters, who are eight-year-old twins, have just come back from working in the garden. Their clothes are tattered and permanently stained with dirt. But what pains us the most is the girls' sad, rejected demeanors. There is no sign of hope or joy in their eyes. No matter how much we try to make them smile and laugh, their faces do not change. At eight years old, it is clear that they have seen too much, been through too much...suffered too much.

Our team has made the journey on foot to the home of these three children, who are being raised by their grandmother. Jovan, Joann, and Josephine were abandoned four years ago by their parents, who had split up. Their father had left their mother for another woman, and the mother went to the city in search of work and never returned for her children. Unfortunately, this is the story of many children living in this area of Uganda where Called By Name serves.

As our team speaks with the grandmother of these three children, we discover none of them are currently attending school. The twins attempted to go to school at the beginning of the year, but they were chased away for not being able to pay the required school fees. So, the twins spend their days at home, working hard in the garden, digging for hours alongside their grandmother who is struggling to provide for 10 grandchildren she is raising alone. Jovan, the six-year-old boy, cracks the sweetest smile every now and then, and tells us he so badly wants to attend school.

The next day, a few of us from the team headed to town to buy outfits for these three siblings. We picked out some nice, new clothes and made the trek back to surprise the children with these gifts. As the children tried each set of clothes on, we hoped dignity would be restored to them. We prayed together with them, and then invited them to come to the children's program we were having the next day.

We were happy the next day when we saw all three of them at the children's program, and wearing the new outfits we had given them. They remained shy as they interacted with the other children and participated in songs and games. Their sullen faces were softened slightly, but trauma and pain remained. Our hope is to be able to send Jovan, Joann, and Josephine to school this coming term, or at the beginning of the new year. A bike will need to be purchased so the twins can transport Jovan to school and back each day.

"Abandoned" has defined these children for four years but Called By Name refuses to come into agreement with that word over the lives of these children. The world may call them abandoned, but heaven calls them adored, loved, chosen, wanted. God knows them, sees them, and wants to enter into their pain to mend their hearts and transform their lives in every way. God has sent our team to manifest His love to these precious children and we will continue to pour out our lives to see Jovan, Joann, Josephine, and all other children in similar situations healed, restored, accepted, and adored. We are committed to love these siblings until radiant smiles of joy cross their faces every day.

People in this world may forget us, forsake us, and disappoint us, but God is forever faithful and He will never forget His children. Will you partner with us to bring hope and healing to these precious little ones?