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Acceptance… No Small Thing
As many of you know, 17 of your fellow CCC folks just got back from Kenya…where we spent time with widows and orphans – doing our best to love on them and show them a little bit of Jesus. In a word, it was “amazing”…on so many levels for so many reasons.
One of the ways that God showed up for me was in the person of a little boy, Julius. Not only was Julius a profound and direct answer to a very specific personal prayer I had for even going to Kenya, but through Julius God also showed me how we all have a need and desire to be loved and accepted.
Julius is a 9-year old little boy whose parents both died when he was 3 – likely from AIDS. After being taken to an orphanage by an aunt who couldn’t care for him, he was taken to “Beat the Drum” (BTD) orphanage at the age of 6 because it specializes in caring for children with HIV/AIDS. As soon as we got off the bus and introduced, Julius literally walked across the sandy uneven 10 feet that separated us from them and grabbed my hand…and from that point on we were inseparable – the rest of that day and for the entire time we were back with BTD later that week. We spoke very few words, but Julius was always holding my hand, leaning against me or guiding me around BTD…but the message was crystal clear – “I want to be loved and accepted by someone”…and I was blessed to be there at that time for Julius. I am forever changed.
When we get past all the fluff, isn’t that what we all really desire…to be loved and accepted? Some of us are blessed to have relationships on earth that give us a sense of love and acceptance; but there is no greater relationship with any greater assurance of acceptance than the one we can have with God through Christ. Through Christ God adopts us as His own.
I chose the KJV of Ephesians 1:6 specifically because of the use of the word “acceptance”. As soon as I read it, Julius’ face popped into my mind…and once again, God used this orphaned little boy in Kenya, with HIV, to add dimension to His love for me through His Son. Boy, do I not deserve it…but I gladly accept it. Thank you Jesus!
For those of you who know Jesus, rest in this truth…you are accepted and loved by God…and that’s enough. For those of you who don’t or wrestle with that…talk to me or one of the other elders or staff at CCC, it would be our privilege…but if you talk to me, you better be ready to hear more about Kenya…and Julius.
Thanks Doug. Though I have yet to go to Kenya (God, please remedy that), it was easy for me to imagine myself at Beat the Drum with an “accepted and beloved” one leaning on me for validation of his accepted-ness.
Made me think, how dare I NOT love them, if Jesus has declared them accepted and loved. Pick a “them” any “them”.
acceptance and our identity in Christ is THE blessing. i needed this reminder. Thanks Doug for going to the ends of the earth to teach this nugget.
blessings my friend,
alan
And it is only because of Christ that we can accept those difficult to accept. Julius is easy (for us…not so much for his neighbors and countrymen.) He is a bright, sweet, wonderful, loving boy. But I was reminded of my time in Mathare, as I was trying not to breathe the glue infused, changa reeking breath of some of the men in the slum, that God accepts them, too. They are harder for us. No different for Him. May we become more like him every day.
Hi Doug,
I can relate to what you’re saying totally because I have been there myself and experienced it first hand. I wasn’t sure how God was going to use me during my time there other than I knew I was going to be part of a team to help the widows group build a chicken coop for their chickens so they could be self sufficient and have an income producing crop. The chicken coop also had a garden incorporated over the top for vegetables they would grow to eat and sell. Then we went into kibera slum area. The teams were split up and went door to door sharing God’s word. I got to stay with a couple of the other team and we stayed with about 20 small children in a daycare or classroom tinshack. We had the opportunity just to love on these children while they laughed and carried on from a simple balloon we blew up and just bounced around the classroom with them bouncing it or just trying to get the balloon. The joy and gladness you could see in their faces. This was something they didn’t get to do or not very often. I could talk on tumani and beat the drum as well.
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