By AIC Timothy Espinoza
I don’t know if I was supposed to be a lawyer, but I’m particular about words. So much so that I’ve had great difficulty in referring to the youth at Otino Waa Children’s Village as orphans. When blogging, brevity is a must. So, the term orphan has been functional for purposes of understanding, yet the youth at Otino Waa certainly don’t fit this mold!
I know the kids believe in one God, the Father Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth. That has been known since the first gathering of these Ugandan children in 2003. They believe it with every fiber of their being. The kids at Otino Waa are not orphans. No indeed, for all who come to God through faith in Christ Jesus, are made sons and daughters of the Most High.
“The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them.
The Spirit that we received is not a spirit that makes us slaves again and causes us to fear.
The Spirit that we have makes us God’s chosen children.
And with that Spirit we cry out, “ Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:14-15
It seems to me there is an association in the word orphan of a sense of being unloved or unwanted. Yet, such things could never be said of the children of Otino Waa. They are part of a community of believers in God, who is their Father. They are our family, in our daily thoughts and prayers, and I just can’t refer to them as orphans anymore, even for the purposes of clarity It’s just not true.
So, from now on, I will cease using the word orphan when referring to the children of Otino Waa. I will refer to;
“And before the world was made,
God decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ.
This was what God wanted,
and it pleased him to do it.“
Ephesians 1:5
NOTE: Timothy has been sponsoring two Otino Waa children for years. He writes to each of them every month using his wonderful tool box of words. Our customized sponsorship program creates that connection for $5/mo.
Our promise to each sponsor is to find someone (like you) who loves the unique relationship and will step up to match that $5.
We invite you to invest in all these lives starting HERE.
“For our own success to be real,
it must contribute to the success of others.”
Eleanor Roosevelt