Over the past few days, a number of blog posts have been bouncing around in my head, none of them dominant enough to become the subject of a new post, until now. Even now, my thoughts are rather disjointed and don't fall into the pattern of one succinct post. But nevertheless, I have things to share, so a disjointed post this shall be.
Late yesterday I received an early Christmas present; one that had been purchased at no store, wrapped in no shiny paper, placed under any tree. In fact, those who gave to me this gift, which I already treasure above all others, had no idea they were even giving it.
Weeks ago my eyes were opened to the plight of special needs children abroad by the story of one little girl from an unnamed orphanage in an unnamed country. This little girl. I read her story, I looked at the photos of her amazing transformation from emaciated orphan, to beloved daughter. A website called Reece's Rainbow led me to the blogs of many other families who had adopted from similar orphanages. Though at first, the family of that first little girl who shared my name, chose not to share what orphanage or even what country their daughter came from, after a little more research and a lot more reading, I had a pretty good idea where it was. I learned that though all children in orphanages suffer for want of a mother or father, some suffered a worse fate than others as they were treated poorly and warehoused rather than nurtured. The orphanage where little Katie came from, though not indicative of all orphanages in her country, was one of the worst, due to a cold-hearted director who allowed the children to languish instead of flourish, who cared more for herself than for these tiny souls who depended on her. A common thread among every person who had come across tales of this orphanage, was an echoing cry of "How can this be allowed to happen?"
Friends, have you heard the phrase "All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to sit and do nothing"? Here it applies more than anything else. Good was not present in this orphanage. It was not present in this person who was left in charge of these children's care. This allowed the force of evil to creep in and take over. Evil is a cunning foe. It seeps in through the cracks and grows like a weed, taking over anywhere that good is not there to fight it. Some believe that this evil is directly caused by Satan. Others such as myself believe in a more abstract version of Satan; as a representation of the evil in the world. Still others believe it is simply human flaw allowed to grow out of control. But what is common among all of these, is the belief that evil... is evil. It's wrong, it's terrible, it's willful destruction of good and innocence.
Yesterday I learned more about how such evil could be allowed to endanger; truly end the lives of many innocent children. In Bulgaria, where I had previously deduced that Katie was from, an orphanage director must be either a pediatrician or a family physician. These people, once assigned to their posts, are very difficult to remove, and in some places oversight of their actions is negligible or nonexistant. In other places, those who see these horrors for themselves turn a blind eye; or halfheartedly try to take action and fail. But here, in this orphanage from whence came little Katie-bird, GOOD had triumphed over that evil.
A special investigation had occurred. A group had gone into the orphanage unannounced and documented many human rights violations, deaths, cover-ups, abuse, neglect... horrors which are nearly unspeakable to those of us who have lived pleasant, first-world lives. The investigative team issued a report, and on the authority of that report, charges were brought up against the director of the orphanage. As of yesterday, we learned that this director who had evil in her heart, who had allowed these horrible things to happen to these children, had been FIRED!
A Christmas miracle. A triumph of good over evil. A reward for the hard work and dedication so many people put in to help these children. An act of God. Any of these, all of these, can be used to describe this news. Ultimately though, there are people we must thank for their efforts to put an end to the torment these children faced daily. One of them is little Katie's mother, Susanna, who humbly gives the credit for this miracle over to God, but who played no small part by witnessing and documenting the horrors of the orphanage, in changing the circumstances for the children therein. One of them is a woman named Toni, whom I know only through the writings of various adoptive families, and who is clearly a kindred heart, who worked tirelessly to seek justice for these children. The countless Babas (this word is Bulgarian, and I am told it is akin to 'grandmother' or 'Nana') who spend their time with the children of the orphanage, providing the only human contact these children may see in weeks, months, years. I'm sure there are others who remain unnamed. And finally, there are the children, who hung on so long, who fought so hard, to be alive and there to be witnessed. Little ones, you had no idea as you lie there, that you were all the while working to save others from the same horrible fate that had befallen you.
This, this is the greatest Christmas gift I could have been given. Thoughts still bounce around my head; about my surgery, about the future of orphanages like this one, about 'homes' for older children and psychiatric institutions to which children as young as four are transferred among various countries... to the value placed on materialism at this time of year when God's neediest children are all but forgotten... scripture quotes float about my mind... I'm sure many posts are to follow this somewhat disjointed one about other thoughts, topics, realizations... but this one needed to be posted today. Any readership I have here is likely quite small, but in the event that it is out there at all, every other person deserves to be given the same gift I was this Christmas; so this post needed to be published.
I want to end only with a thank you... to every one of the people whose words, actions, or mere existence, went into changing the circumstances these children face. Let us hope that in the coming days we will see good done in their lives, changes made, so that other children don't have to follow in the footsteps of those who went before them. And a thank you, to everyone who brought this news to the attention of all who carried these children in their hearts and minds every day... to those who unknowingly gave me the best gift I will receive this year. Thank you.
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