May 2023

On my recent trip to Asia, I held a party for Sweetie and her foster siblings in the hotel garden. Broken little lives were ecstatic with pizza, pop, five flavors of ice cream, gifts, cuddles, and time spent playing together as “family.” We even rode the elevator up and down 11 floors, and you’d think we’d taken them to Disney World!

Ever since I heard the quote “The capacity to brave the dark comes from finding and clinging to the light,” it has stuck with me, and this party was another example of the light that pours steel into my weary backbone. Cuddling with Sweetie and listening to another 10-year-old boy whisper, “Jesus loves me. I love you.” are precious moments reminding me why we at WAR, Int’l do what we do.

I learned Sweetie’s favorite subjects are science and geography, her favorite color is pink, and her favorite food is pizza. Independent, she threw a stone at a boy who made her mad… and missed. He threw one back and didn’t miss so we compared foot injuries. Hers was a tiny black and blue spot while mine was completely black and swollen from a dropped suitcase. We also attended her children’s program where she was the star of the show (I’m a little prejudiced) and introduced as the best classical Indian dancer out of a hundred or so kids.

In a conversation with Sweetie’s foster mom, she shared, “Oh Becky, it’s remarkable to see her so happy and ‘normal’ most of the time. It is God’s goodness that a child beaten and groomed to silently accept pain from birth is flourishing thanks to so many prayers. She’s really smart, takes leadership with the younger students, is gifted in classical Indian dance, and talks about becoming a police officer. After Sweetie’s mom went through our training program and started a job, she remarried. However, she doesn’t want her husband to know about Sweetie, so she’s abandoned her, which Sweetie is taking to heart.”

At age ten, Sweetie is in the sweet spot of youth on the cusp of adolescence. Yet her future is dire. We desperately need to find her an educational setting with resources that will enable her to thrive long-term. The options I’ve been researching aren’t viable, and I need the WAR family to pray for a God-sized plan now. This little life escaped the darkness through the power of prayer before, so once again, I beg you to pray because the only way we’ll brave the evil that lurks all around her is to find and cling to the Light of the World!