I am guilty. I fall into the trap too often.
The trap of indifference!
How easy it is to have my heart break in two over something…and then carry on in my own little world as though it never happened in the first place.
Apathy grabs a hold of my heart too often and I so easily forget.
As I was writing the post about Jonathan and the reality of his potential life outside of orphanage walls, I felt such an intense aching. The kind I have not felt for a while. I couldn’t help but think about the millions of others just like him out there.
All 163 million of the fatherless.
I wrote that post through tear-stained eyes. God began to stir my heart and ignite something in me all over again. I looked at Jonathan’s sweet face and I wondered…
“What if he were my own son?”
“What if my own child were facing life on the street…and he was just sixteen years old?”
“What if my own son had nothing to his name but the clothes on his back?”
“What if I knew that my child was being preyed upon by those who seek out the weak and the vulnerable to be used in the trafficking industry?”
“What if it were my own beloved flesh and blood who were hungry and needed to be fed?”
“Just what if?”
What would I do?
I weep just thinking about it.
Seriously! I would move heaven and earth, and I would do everything humanly possible to get to where my child was! I would travel to the ends of the earth to find my child without any hesitation. I would truly give up everything for the sake of one of my children. I would do whatever it took–sell my stuff, call on friends to help, get people to pray, get on my hands and knees and beg for God to intervene, go and help my child–no matter where it took me! I would never rest until my precious child was out of harm’s way.
Never!
Because that’s what a parent does. They never, ever give up on a child.
My heart has been so stretched and challenged over the last few days. I have been so burdened once again for the plight of the orphan. I never want indifference to make its way into my heart ever again. I never want to forget the “Jonathans” of the world…the millions who wait endlessly for someone to come for them.
I never want to forget that any one of those children could be one of mine.
God reminded me of the Depraved Indifference video. It has played over and over in my mind over the last few days as I remembered the words of Eric Ludy.
“What if that were MY Connor?”
“What if that were MY Kellan?”
“What if MY Cade was starving to death and not a single soul was willing to help him?”
“What if?”
I believe that God longs for us to look upon every orphan as our own–every human being as a priceless treasure who is worth fighting for, worth giving up something of what we have–worth giving up our abundance of luxuries, our comforts and our daily five-dollar Starbucks.
Why do we suffer from the disease of indifference when it comes to the lost, the lonely, the starving, the needy, the widow, and the orphan who begs every day of her life for someone to CHOOSE her?
Why?
Would we look at our own child who was suffering and walk away? Would we choose to be indifferent about our own flesh and blood?
Never in a million years! I could never do it.
If you have never watched Depraved Indifference, I urge you to. It truly is life-changing. Eric Ludy says it so much better than I ever could. His words are so powerful and TRUE! It is too amazing not to share.
Please keep sharing Jonathan’s story! Please, let’s raise the RANSOM for this precious boy to come home. Let’s do everything we possibly can to ensure that Jonathan never, ever knows the horrendous life so many of these precious children discover on the other side of the orphanage walls.
Just what if he were one of ours?
“I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.” (Matt 25:40 The Message)
