Cambodian orphans just wrecked me today

The cry of a little orphan stopped me in my tracks this morning and put my busy life in perspective. I thought about it the whole time I was out jogging.

Here’s why: I clicked on my son Seth’s blog from Cambodia this morning. Cambodia is a land that lost an entire generation of mothers and fathers, I was there when it happened in 1979, and now my son Seth is coping with the aftermath when he goes to the orphanage every day. Here’s an excerpt from it:

“I have been spending every morning so far in the orphanage. I have never seen a group of kids more hungry for love. They cling to us at all times.

Often we’ll have eight children hanging off our limbs, necks, and backs. And then there are those who cling to the clingers.

They hug, kiss, play, and fight each other to be noticed. There hasn’t been a day yet where one kid hasn’t been beat up by another kid yearning for love and attention.

Also, they don’t know any English, but they do say ‘Deddy!’ an awful lot. Yesterday one of them said, ‘Goodbye! Deddy, goodbye!’

As with most small children, they love being swung in circles. This child weighs about two pounds and is constantly hanging on my fingers and squealing, ‘Wee!’ as he drops his legs from under himself.”

OK, timeout here. I don’t know about you, but reading this wrecks me.

When I hear about these affection-starved orphans, something rises up within me and says, “What are you going to do about this, Barnes?” I mean I can’t just sit here unmoved to action.

It demands a response.

I don’t know – what does it do to you? I mean, if I didn’t have anything else pressing in my life, I’d drop everything and go live in Cambodia and be the Daddy these kids never had.

I’d hug them and whisper, “You’re special” in their ears. I’d give them at least a year of my life and ask God what he wanted one to do next.

And hey, if you’re interested in responding, email me – I’ll put you in touch and you can go in my place.