God Knows My Name

Friday afternoon we had a great time at Una Esperanza. In the morning before the feeding, Patsy and I had the children help with painting and decorating poster boards that depicted Creation and what happened on each day, and then late in the afternoon Patsy taught a Bible lesson on Creation and had some of the children present a play about how God created light on Day 1 and that each subsequent day, He created the things that His creations would need, all because He loved them so much and wanted to provide for them.

After we sang a song together with the children, Patsy shared with them that Jesus is the Light, and that He seeks to live in each one of us and wants us to know that He loves us. Several children indicated that they wanted the Light of Christ to live inside them and came up to receive Christ as their Savior. Following this, she had several of our staff members as well as Brad and myself come to the front of the room, and invited the children to come forward and receive a hug from each of us that was a tangible means of them feeling the love of God the Father for them each personally.


As the children came through one by one, I was reminded of a song we sing in church and had played during the lunch feeding -

I am not forgotten, I am not forgotten, I am not forgotten,
God knows my name, He knows my name.

Light over darkness, strength over weakness, joy over sadness,
He knows my name.
Father to the fatherless, Friend to the friendless,
Hope to the hopeless,
He knows my name.

I will praise You, I will praise You
For I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
(I Am Not Forgotten, Israel Houghton, Integrity Music)

Knowing the family situations of most of these children coming into my arms for hugs, I was brought to tears many times, knowing that this was perhaps the first time they had received affection in a long time, if at all in their lives. Boys and girls alike were in tears, feeling loved and not wanting to let go. Even the ones that can tend to cause trouble at times melted into our arms and received the love that was offered. We've been praying for a break-through, and we believe that this was a step in that direction.


This is a photo of me hugging Benito, who is the older brother to Maria and Mariquita. Benito recently returned to Kilometer 33 after being taken away several months ago. Right now he's on his own, staying at a friend's house, but we know that he's going hungry and the biting cold is taking its toll on everyone right now. It was both heartbreaking and encouraging to hold him and tell Him that God loves him and so do I, and that God knows his name and has not forgotten Him. I told him that because he has no earthly father, God is His father and he is a special son in God's sight. He is just one story out of so many more. Benito told us that Maria and Mariquita should be returning to Kilometer 33 in two weeks, so we ask for your prayers in this matter, that God would indeed bring them back to Una Esperanza.


As each of these precious children came through and was held in our arms for just a moment, it was a reminder to us that God does indeed know each of their names - Maribel, Manuel, Aaron, Carolina, Adelita, Josue, Perla, Rojo, Juanita, Denise, Lucy, Benito - He knows their names and their situations, and He has not forgotten about them. He loves them and has given His Son to ransom them, and that is the message that we must continue to share with them, loving them on a daily basis and taking every opportunity to tell them that Jesus is the hope for their future.