“What’s my name?” A new volunteer will hear that time and time again during their stay at the Care Center in Kumasi. When I take teams, we always send out a master list of all the kids bios in advance so that the group can learn a few names + faces before they arrive. It will take time and effort to study their beautiful, little faces and find one thing that will set them apart from the other 82 children and teenagers. Remember the story that God will leave the 99 and go after the one? I think that is the scripture that I am reminded of with these children. They are all so beautiful in the eyes of God. He wants them called by name.
The Touch A Life children come from horrific backgrounds and carry heartbreaking stories of abandonment and rejection. They have been orphaned or sold by their parents into a life of slavery. I ask myself: How does one find self worth in life again after watching money or livestock exchanged for their freedom? I don’t know. I personally cannot wrap my head around the betrayal these innocent souls have been asked to endure.
Taking care of over 100 kids in Ghana, West Africa, is a job I never could have dreamed I would one day be doing. This week I have folded endless sets of twin size sheets while stuffing Crocs in every crevice of multiple trunks. (After all these years I have bragging rights on packing supplies the most efficient way possible!) In a few days, I will be taking a group of six amazing women to the Care Center who have never visited our program before, and they have no idea how their lives will be forever transformed. I am ready to be on African soil hearing the infamous question, “What’s my name?”
Trunks are loaded. Itineraries are printed. Ghana awaits. I love my job!
May we all take the time today and every day to learn someone’s name. Look deep into their soul and let them know they are not invisible. The journey to healing and wholeness could start for someone by you just knowing their name.