A recent Storyteller Missions team visited another Chinese orphanage and met a young man with one simple wish for a FAMILY! At 13 years old, he only has months left before his 14th birthday will remove this hope he clings to. Please read the words of one of the team members who longs to see his wish come true -
Before
you light your first sparkler of the weekend or cut that watermelon, I need to
share with you about a boy I met a couple months ago.
I
keep sitting here trying to think of clever ways to convince someone that this
13 year boy is more worthy of adopting than the thousands and thousands of
others who are available. But I just can't. The fact is, EVERY child deserves a
mom and dad. Every child deserves a home with parents cheering them on to find
their dreams. Every child should have birthday cakes with candles and friends
singing that familiar happy birthday song, year after year after year. EVERY
child deserves this.
So
what could I possibly say about this shy, 13 year old to help his God-chosen
parents to take the step he needs before he ages out in just a few short
months? Before we know it, we'll be returning to school, planning fall break
vacations, celebrating Thanksgiving and picking out a tree... Meanwhile he
waits, day after day after day, wondering if anyone might want to share those
memories with him? Isn't he is worth family traditions and memories too? Hasn't
life thrown him enough difficulties being deaf in a world that communicates so
much with spoken words? I know he questions whether or not he's worth it. He
told me so.
We
spent hours together one day. I spoke in English to his 17 year friend named
"Star." She either wrote in Chinese to him, or tried to sign to him
to understand my questions. He waited patiently. Patiently. How many 13 year
old boys wait patiently to answer personal questions about themselves? Maybe
that makes him special. I'm sure the fact that he loves sports and
video games and would rather be with friends than in school, doesn't make him
any different.
I
asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up and his friend said he just
wants to be with a family. What 13 year old makes the need to be with his
family a priority over being a basketball player or football super star? Maybe
that sets him apart too. Most 13 year old kids are preoccupied with name brands
and the latest technology, and I had to show him how to take a selfie. Maybe
that sets him apart too.
Don't
consider this boy because you feel sorry for him. Not at all. This boy is a
champion. He lives in a home with hundreds of children and none of them know
sign language. No, this boy is a supreme communicator. He's learned to get his
needs met without screaming and sassing his care takers. I'm certain that sets
him apart from most 13 year olds I know, too.
But
I think what sets him apart most for me, if I want to get to the heart of the
matter... wasn't that he is about to age out. It wasn't even that he is deaf.
It was the inquisitive nature in his eyes that seemed to be asking me,
"Will you find my mom?" As I spent those hours with him, drinking in
his shyness, marveling at his patience, all other children around seemed to
melt away, because I saw him as a son. He was made to be a son, not an orphan.
There
IS a parent for him.
We
need to find them. No perfect parent need apply. He told me he didn't need a
perfect family. If you have room in your heart to love a 13 year old who dreams
of family, loves sports and has beat the odds of communicating so much that he
does well at school, we have found your son. He is waiting. And we have been
praying that you would step forward to begin making those back-to-school,
vacation, holiday, birthday memories with him.
Is
it you? Are you ready to take him in? Are you the one we've been praying for?
If so, please email Kelly at kraudenbush@sparrow-fund.org for the next
step.
