Just days before we left on the fall interview trip, we got word that we had a last minute addition; an orphanage that hadn’t participated in hosting since summer 2006. The director of this orphanage in question just happen to have lunch with our Latvian coordinator days before our arrival and mentioned possibly having children for us to interview for Christmas hosting. Our coordinator explained that we were practically on our way, so if that was her wish, she would have to make plans very quickly to have her children available to us and it must fit in a small window of time. Considering this last minute addition, it was obvious God was already at work.
My role on the team is to play, observe and interact with the children, prior to their interview. That interaction should loosen the child up and release any tension or fears they may have about talking to our interview team. As usual, I was filling that role and we were down to the last two children. Gvido, a 14 year old boy, had gone into the room for his interview and I sat outside with one remaining child. After some time had passed, I heard “beat-boxing” coming from the interview room. Usually, I would never stick my head in an interview, but I was so impressed I had to take a look. That was the end of his interview, so I took the other little boy inside and sat down at the other end of the room, near our luggage. We take a suitcase filled with toys and as the kids finish up their interviews, they can pick out something they want. Shortly after I sat down, Gvido came and sat down beside me.
As he started going through the things in the bag, he came across some of those popular rubber bracelets. Ours had faith-based words imprinted on them. He picked up a blue one and read it aloud, "BELIEVE." He slid it on his wrist, turned to me and said, "Do you believe in God?" Normally, here in the bible belt of America, I suppose I would been prepared for the statement. In fact, normally, I could have gone into a long dissertation filled with scripture about all the reasons I believe in God. However, this came as a surprise, what a seemingly random statement from an orphan in the middle of nowhere Latvia! Never has a child in a foreign country asked ME about God, usually it’s the other way around. As I came to my senses, I simply said, "yes, I believe in God."
Satisfied with my answer, he continued going through the bag, turned to me again and said, "music is my life." I wanted to say, “hey, that’s my line,” seeing as there are two constants in this house; music and sports! I was so caught off guard by the conversation, it was as if someone handed this kid a script. He then said to me, "do you know any American Christians songs?" Again... dumbfounded and stuck somewhere between saying, “yes, like a million,” and not having the courage to speak at all. It’s a rare thing to find me speechless! I finally said yes, and he proceeded to say lyrics to popular praise and worship choruses to see if I knew them. He started with "do you know… I could sing of your love forever?" I said yes and began to sing the song back to him. He would think of another one, say the lyrics and I would sing it back to him. We did this for about 4 or 5 songs. One of my team members caught this interaction with the video function of her camera and our duet is forever recorded. (See video below) At that point, I honestly thought someone put him up to this! Come to find out, no one ever said a word to him. About then, I realized he was wearing a handmade cross necklace. He had attended a Christian camp this past summer and made it at camp.
Finally, he asked me what I did as part of the group. I explained to him that I would go home and work very hard to find host families for all the children we would meet that week. He sat there for a moment, looked at me and said, “how many children do you have?” I answered him, “none.” To which he replied, “can I come to your house?”
Once home and after realizing the door was closing for Matiss, at least for now, I was able to begin praying if God would have us host again at Christmas and if the unique experience I had with Gvido had something to do with that. My struggle is always the same, not acting out of the natural desire of my heart to be a mother, but instead, seeking God's perfect will. I know my heart and I’ve learned I really have to pray and discern in that area, not just act and react. But, one Sunday morning, God answered me with His "still, small voice." I guess I was half-confessing the state of my heart when I said, "Lord, I don't want to spend another Christmas alone…" meaning without a child in the house. I wasn’t expecting an answer, but just behind the thought came a quiet, subtle response... "neither does he."
So, there you have it. It's like God showed me our need wasn't selfish. In fact, it met the need of this child and for such a time as this, God has allowed our needs to match and He made the match, not me. So, we are hosting Gvido this Christmas! We are looking forward to lavishing a child with the joy of Christmas, not just the day, but the season… lights, trees, decorations, Christmas Eve candlelight service, everything!
