Directors are People, Too.

Orphanage directors are people, too.  Perhaps an odd title for a blog, you might say.  But I have to keep reminding myself of this fact.  I tend to see orphanage directors as a means to an end.  They can either be helpful or obstructive to ministries wanting “access” to their children.  I am just trying to be honest, here.  This hit me in a big way after our most recent trip to Ukraine.

I am often a tunnel-visioned person when it comes to projects I am pursuing.  It was no different in October when we went to visit the children we had hosted last summer.  I had clothes to deliver; Bibles to distribute; games to play; children to hug, and well, pity the poor soul who got in my way.  I came home after that trip with a heavy heart for my dictatorial attitude.  The orphanage directors were probably most thankful to see me go.

Don’t think for one minute that I am wallowing in self-imposed guilt.  I don’t feel guilty at all.  What I feel is broken.  God, in His grace and mercy towards me and the directors, broke my heart for them.  He opened my eyes to see them as precious individuals made in His image, as much as the children in their care.  God allowed me to see myself through their eyes.  And at that moment, I could not wait to go back. 

I want to sit down with the adults I encounter.  I want to learn their names.  Their childrens’ names.   Their struggles.  Their hopes and dreams.  I want to see them through eyes of grace, not as a means to an end, but as a fellow pilgrim in this journey called life. 

This conviction was confirmed to me last Sunday when my pastor, David Platt, reminded us at the Church at Brook Hills, that the gospel is about people, not projects.  I am naturally a project-oriented person.  Give me a project and I will get it done.  To be people-oriented takes more time.  More patience.  And more God.  It does not come naturally to me.  I am so thankful to serve a God who tells me in 2 Corinthians 12:9:  “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  In 4 weeks, I will make another trip to Ukraine.  Pray for me, that God’s power, not my on, will be on display.  

Suzette