Thursday, May 03, 2012

Will they take the risk? We have had several conversations recently with Harbor staff and have heard over and over how difficult it is for a Russian orphan to take the leap of faith required to follow Jesus Christ. These kids truly have the cards stacked against them. For instance, The Harbor's girl apartment recently lost a resident who must have felt like the structure and the rules of The Harbor just aren't what she wants. Anya and I met this girl and saw immediately how cocky and arrogant she could be. Like most 19 year-olds, orphans display this cockiness as a defense mechanism desperately trying to hide insecurity brought on by the fact that they have to become an adult, and quick. Unfortunately, in an orphan's case, rejecting all authority, running away from structure and discipline, and doubting that anyone could love you enough to want to help is a deadly game. Where will our lost resident go? God only knows and we pray that God would go with her and draw her close to himself. Ultimately, the questions that our resident's face are not questions that are foreign to us. There is a real question of risk we are faced with as we grow older. Will we give up on ourselves? Will we submit to the fact that we don't know it all and will never know it all ourselves? The Harbor will fail every time if we think that building up a kid's self-confidence will help them navigate their lives. Our confidence has to be built upon something much more firm and stable than our own ability to make a way for ourselves. Liberation to live life with gusto and abandon...Freedom to take the risks necessary to live in our complex world can only be found in knowing we are loved unreservedly by a Father who knows all our failures, inadequacies and doubts. The question our resident's face is something we must ask ourselves, "Will we take the risk; will we admit we need others and will we admit we need Christ in us and with us?".

Followers