Meet Moses. Moses is a thirteen year old boy from Liberia where he has been raised in an orphanage since he was three months old. His mother died when she was shot by rebels. When she was shot, she fell on top of Moses where he remained pinned for three days. As a result of this tragedy, Moses was orphaned and his left hand was severely crippled.Our church, Fairfield Baptist, sponsors Moses' orphanage in Liberia. By the grace of God, we were able to arrange for Moses to come to the United States to have his hand fixed. More details can be found on the Fairfield Baptist web site.
Moses is here for at least 60 days. I think the church is trying to get his visa extended because after the surgery it would be best if he could be here for more physical therapy.
My family has been blessed by being able to spend some quality time with Moses on his visit. We home school and Moses has gone with my wife and kids on field trips, met our home school group, and today he got to see all the kids dressed in their Renaissance costumes as part of the home school groups Renaissance festival.
Up until now, my family's interaction with Moses has been while I am at work. However, today I got to pick him up on the way home. We had some friends over and enjoyed homemade chicken and beef enchiladas. The house was full of kids and you can tell Moses really enjoys the other children. He plays with the little kids and laughs and makes them laugh. After our neighbors left, I got to play a few rounds of Uno Attack and spend some quality time with Moses and my three older kids.
I finally had my turn at being blessed.
There are going to be a lot of tears in my house when Moses goes back to Liberia and the orphanage.
James 1:27 (ESV)
27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
What a sad, but all to common story. I lived close to the border of Liberia (Sierra Leone side) from 1993-1994 and my parents adopted a young boy Mohamed that was a refugee from Liberia.
ReplyDeleteIt is stories likes Moses, and all the family and friends I lost from that terrible war, that I am determined to get accepted to medical school next year and devote my time to medical care in the region.
Thank you for sharing this story, it brought back many memories.
Ada - Thanks for stopping by and sharing those comments. I'm sure you'll succeed with your medical school plans and I applaud your desire to go back to the Liberia region to serve. God bless. Tony
ReplyDeleteIt looks like he's having a lot of fun with your family and you all are a blessing to him also. God bless you.
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ReplyDeleteVery cool. Isn't it amazing how stretching ourselves just a bit in HIS name can do so much, for us and for others? We will add Moses to our prayer list.
ReplyDeleteK -
ReplyDeleteThank you for your prayers - and yes it is way cool how God blesses all when we step into the water and keep our eyes on Jesus.