As I recover from a grueling trek home, with some much needed rest, I have had the chance to begin unpacking my bags and my mind. As I unzipped my suitcase gifts spilled onto the floor: letters, crafts, and various stuffed animals. I was immediately drawn back into the closing hours of our time spent at the orphanage. In the closing moments I was overwhelmed by the generosity these children showed me as several ran to their beds to grab the only stuffed animal they had, offering it freely to someone they spent a week with. We were now a family. It was hard for me to accept these stuffed animals, it pained me to do so, but how could I turn away such an earnest heart? Why was it so easy for them to give one of only a few possessions away? Why was it so difficult for me to accept? Our lives were changed because God filled the space between us.

As I traveled home this theme of generosity capitulated itself in my mind and heart in several ways. I saw a glimpse of the gospel this week. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son…” We are all orphans, and adopted into the kingdom by God. And God so generously and freely gave of himself, so that we might be in community with him.

I saw this testimony in the hearts of orphans halfway around the world.

Ben McElroy