We woke up in the beautiful, green, rainy city of Kampala and spent the day with the babies (& toddlers) at Sanyu Babies Home, a Christian organization taking incredible care of 50 abandoned babies and toddlers between 1 day old and 4 years. Many of these children are found abandoned in garbage heaps, pit latrines, ditches, taxi parks or are left by the side of the road. The goal of the home is to reunite these precious children with their families or by finding a foster or adoption placement.
We held babies, and some were astonished that their greatest desire was simply to be held and cuddled, as evidenced by the tugs on our shirts, the crawling into our laps, the fighting over how many babies one lab could fit, crying when it was time to put them down.
One of the sweetest moments was when Riley (one of our youngest team members) found her favorite baby from our last trip. She was called “mama Joshua” during the entire 2015 trip and now “baby Joshua” is three years old, full of life, counting to ten, and singing the sweetest songs about Jesus. Our hearts melted and it is going to be incredibly hard to say good-bye, once again.
I’ll end with this late night quote from a team member, “by being a part of the simplest moments such as wrapping our arms around these precious kids, feeding them their bottles, feeling their hands stroke our hair, rubbing their backs why they cried at nap time, watching the tantrums, wiping snotty noses, cleaning bottles, and hanging laundry, we are in fact an extension God’s love and felt His overwhelming love for us too.” Seeing the joy on their faces and the song in their hearts, reminded us of exactly why we’re here — to do the little that we can each day. Not to save, but to pause, to sit on the floor, to love those God has put in front of us, and to allow Him to break our hearts for what breaks His in the process.
Reflections from Day 1 was originally published in Clarity Minute on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
