His name is the Lord -- rejoice before him.
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing.
Ps. 68:4
Throughout this whole process it has been so amazing to see how much God clearly loves these boys. From the beginning when he put the desire in my heart to host them he let me know how much he loves them. Every time God provided a need, I was reminded wow- God loves these boys. He is seeking them out.
About half way through their time with us it hit me. I am loving them and trying to make a difference in their lives. I am playing with them and enjoying their company. I am feeding them heaps and heaps of food 5 times a day and watching them grow physically... but their biggest need I am incapable of meeting. They need the Lord! I got to praying that day for a way to teach them about God. The language barrier would make communicating the good news very confusing! I wanted to be able to tell them that they were loved by God, they were wanted. That God loved them so much and that he made a way for them to have a relationship with him- through belief in his son Jesus. I wanted to tell them that Jesus loved them so much that he gave his whole life so that they could live. (Can you imagine the charades I would have to perform to communicate all of this? haha I am pretty sure it wouldn't work out.) So anyway I got online and started searching for Ukrainian churches in the area. I thought man, a Ukrainian speaking VBS would be perfect! I wish I could find one. But, I couldn't. All I could find was a local Ukrainian catholic church. I prayed about it, and left it at that.
The next morning, a friend of a friend who I really barely knew (though now we have become good friends), texted me. I was blown away when I read her text. She said, I don't know if you would be interested but my parents go to a Ukranian speaking church and they have a VBS next week! umm, ok God, thank you for showing up! The VBS was a 45 minute drive, but well worth it!
I am soo excited to share, that one night, after hearing the truth of God's love, Max trusted in Jesus! Our charades conversation that night after VBS was so awesome. He was soo happy. And he told me "Max,.. Pray, ..God." Beaming from ear to ear. "Max, Pray, God -(points up). God...(then swoops his hand down to his heart) shooooom Max" He was trying to show God is in his heart. It was so cool. That night he prayed before bed in Ukranian. Really wish I knew what he was saying. He was very proud of himself and happy. I was able to explain to him that I also believed in God. And he was like "Mama??!!"......"oooooh!" hahaha
Good things. :)
He once was fatherless.
