Building Futures- You Can See It From Here
The elderly man stopped at a switchback on the trail and looked down the hill at his grandson who was just rounding the last switchback on the steep and rocky trail. Even from where he stood, he could see the fatigue on the troubled teen’s face and saw that he was sweating profusely; despite the cool, morning, mountain air.
He smiled and at the same time, worried a little as to whether or not his plan would work or backfire on him. He had not been sure what to think when his son and his daughter-in-law had asked to help them steer their son in the right direction and avoid more trouble with the law. But here he was, halfway up a good-sized mountain, reflecting on his own troubled youth and hoping he could make a difference in his grandson’s life. It could very well become a make-or-break moment in time.
He waited until the boy’s eyes met his; gave him a smile and a thumbs-up and turned and took the next step up, in what would be a 4-mile slog to the summit of the mountain. He said a quick mental prayer that he himself could drag his old body up the remainder of the way.
But drag it he did; as some hours later, both he and his grandson, who had closed the gap between them, finally reached the summit. They both sat down on a flat boulder near the edge of a sheer face on the summit and stared off in the distance. For a while, neither of them spoke and when that silence was broken, it was by his grandson. “Quite the view pops. It’s been fun, but can we go now?” “Pops” took a deep breath and chose his next words carefully. “Aren’t you even the slightest bit proud of your accomplishment? That was quite a hike for someone who sits on his backside most of the time.” His grandson looked at him with a frown on his forehead and squinty eyes. “I guess so. I mean it is pretty up here and all, but I could have just looked up this view on my phone and I wouldn’t have had to climb two feet, let alone two thousand. Is this what you said you wanted to show me? This view? Like I said, I could have saved us both a long hike.”
Pops chuckled and shook his head and was silent for a long moment before speaking in soft tones without even turning his head, his eyes still looking out into the distance. “I brought you up here for a few reasons. First of all, it’s a beautiful hike and it’s good for you. Secondly, you’ve been kind of struggling to stay out of trouble lately. I kind of figured since you think life is so tough, I would show you something else tough. He kicked a small rock off the edge with a dusty boot and cleared his throat before continuing. Life is a lot like climbing this mountain, kid. Always has been, always will be a challenge. Always been trials in life that will test what you’re made of and always will be. You need to stop making it even more difficult for yourself by causing trouble for you and your parents. If you think your life is tough now because you don’t always get your way, just imagine what it will be like when you have a job, a wife and some kids of your own.” His grandson stared at the ground and drew a line in the gravel with his heel. He looked up at his Pops and smiled. “You always seem to find a way to make me think, Pops. And you’re right, I have been kind of a pain lately.” He stared off in the distance and when he spoke, it was in a somewhat triumphant tone. “So, life is a lot like a mountain huh? It’s a tough climb; but you just have to keep going and eventually you reach the top.” His grandfather chuckled and put a weathered hand on his grandson’s knee. “I wish it were that easy son, but it’s not. When you climb a mountain, you also have to go back down again, and you end up right where you began. That’s why I brought you up here…to show you something. Because you can see it from here. His grandson gave him a puzzled look and asked, “See what, Pops?” Pops smiled and pointed off in the distance. “The next mountain we have to climb.”
This coming year will be our 25th year of this mission. It was that long ago that a “simple” idea was conceived by a small group of individuals whose personal experiences in Russia exposed the tragic conditions that the orphan children there were subjected to. At that point in time, not long after the fall of the Soviet Union, the economy in Russia was such that they could not even provide their orphaned children with the most basic needs. The children were provided shelter, but not much else. They shared clothing and had nothing of their own. The nutrition they received was far from adequate, typically just broth that was served midday. Their heads were covered in lice and their skin was infected because of poor hygiene. Even the people that cared for them didn’t look well and seemed defeated by the impossible task they had been given. Medical needs were almost never met, and children died because ten dollars wasn’t available to buy needed medication. The children there looked at you with a hollow and hopeless stare. Lonely little souls who had never experienced a truly good day. Defeated and alone inside their own heads, they must have wondered what they did that was so wrong to deserve such a life. They existed, but that is all. Russia was our first summit.
Four years later, God presented another mountain for us to climb when we began our programs in India. It wasn’t even something we had planned to do, but the very week we had an internet presence, requests for help came in from all over the world. One such request was from CCIM, a small children’s home in a rented shack in the slums. There had been a Tsunami and suddenly there were more fatherless children as many fishermen were killed in the devastating storm. More requests from directors of homes, desperate for help in India, would soon follow. We saw the mountain before us and despite being ill-equipped, we chose to climb.
Then, once again, God presented us with a new mountain to climb. This time in Uganda where three children’s homes had been abandoned by the U.S. entity that had been helping them. Another would soon follow as we “accidentally” found a home operated by an elderly woman with a kind heart but no resources to care for the fatherless children in her home. Some of them, she found on her porch and in nearby garbage bins. She had a single pineapple left to feed the children when we found her home. Once again, we saw the mountain before us and chose to climb.
Then came Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines, and Liberia. Each a mountain unto themselves. Each a story of kind and loving people desperate for help so that they could help others. We saw the mountains and we chose to climb.
Each and every climb was initiated on faith alone. Trusting that God would provide if we chose to do the right thing. We did; and He did. Every time. He did so through you. Without you, the climb to each summit would have been impossible; and we are eternally grateful for you.
Next month is our 24th Annual Orphan Sunday, a critical part of the resources we use to act to save the lives of children when timing is a critical element. It is also how we protect our current programs as well as begin new ones to care for orphans and widows. If your church is not yet participating, please consider talking to your elders. You can also simply give as an individual.
As we approach the end of our 24th year and look ahead to a year that will mark a quarter of a century of serving the fatherless and widows in God’s name, we do so not knowing what mountains we will be climbing. But we have faith that God will provide through kind and caring people exactly like you, who have chosen to act upon the compassion you feel for the least of these. It is true that we may not yet know what is on the next mountain that God will present to us, but two things are for sure. We know it is coming and you can see it from here.