This is Vanea. He is 9 years old and lives in an orphanage in Costesi, Moldova. Just last week, we had a team from the states visit his orphanage and present a fun and Gospel-focused Christmas program. At the end of the program, Santa Clause comes to bring gifts, and the kids go to Santa and recite poems and sing songs to him. One of our team members, Becky, was sitting beside Vanea and talking to him, when asked her, “How will I get to Santa?”
Vanea is paralyzed from the waist down and does not have a wheelchair, so he has to be carried everywhere he goes. This difficulty is on top of his already challenging life in the orphanage. Without missing a beat, Elijah, a young man in the JMI Independent Living program, picked Vanea up and took him to Santa. Elijah then put Vanea on his shoulders so he could see the fireworks.
Surely, the joy in Vanea’s face and the obedience of Elijah made God smile. The redemption that has happened in Elijah’s life is expressing itself as joyful servanthood. What a good and faithful God.
Who is the Father asking you to carry to Him? Perhaps He has been prompting you to take a step of obedience in serving someone in your community, or maybe he has asked you to sponsor a child like Vanea. May we learn from Elijah’s quick obedience and eagerly invite others to the feet of Jesus and to the Kingdom that is for all.
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