At the Children's Home, I lived in a community that had been reached by the gospel decades earlier by Western missionaries. But it was a very isolated community in a pagan society that was less than 1% Christian. As a newly arrived Western missionary, what was my role? Was I to care for the children, who were the pulse of the Children's Home's purpose? Was I to assume leadership and "fix" all of the "dysfunctions" that would be unacceptable in the Western world? In the beginning, God's still, small voice gave me purpose:
Live. Learn. and Love.
I lived among them. Learned from them. Grew to love them.
Constantly, I answered the question: "You are so different. Why are you here?" I was there to make disciples. For Jesus. How was I to make disciples? I mentored some girls. Ruby, Sheetal, and Babli were teh names of some of them. Discipling them was a beautiful experience. I taught, corrected, loved, and listened to them. I saw them grow in Christ-like character. Sometimes I became quite angry with them. (Like when they repeatedly knocked on my window saying, "Didi, I want cookies," after I'd specifically told them I was resting and was not to be disturbed. Or when they stole clothes while I was painstakingly distributing them fairly.) When I became angry, I told them, and used it as a teaching opportunity to teach them the way of the Lord. My heart beamed when they apologized sincerely and changed their behavior. But I was limited. I was not able to have deep and meaningful relationships with all 90 girls who lived outside my kitchen window. Or the 120 younger children who resided just beyond my front door. Much less the 80 middle-school and teenage boys who trekked half a mile from their dorm to our main campus to attend school every day. I knew nearly all 300 by name, but I could not disciple all of them. Yet I loved them, and I believe the Lord wanted them all to be His disciples.
About 1 1/2 years into my time there, I sensed the Lord shifting my purpose. For months, when I'd felt overwhelmed with the abundance of need and at a loss for how to focus, He had said to me simply: "Love the children." But 18 months into it, He began to say something somewhat different: "Love the staff."
The staff? Jesus, when He walked this earth, loved the thousands of people clamoring around him. But he chose 12 specifically to be his apostles, and three to more specifically mentor. Who was God calling me to specifically mentor? The house mothers. The house mothers were His children too. Yet they had never been dicipled or taught how to disciple. My relationship with them was good. They were hungry to grow spiritually and desired to raise the children well in the fear of the Lord. If I could disciple them to disciple the children, the potential to impact the children was much broader than I could ever do personally. How exciting! So that is what I began to do. I talked to the house parents. Learned about them. Listened to them. Encouraged them. The Lord blessed my efforts and they blossomed into meaningful friendships. (I used my side-by-side Bible translation A LOT.) But they were hungry for more. I realized that to go deeper, I needed to be more organized. Did they understand the concept of grace? Did they know how to articulate it to the children? One day, a house mother approached me, "Audrey, we need resources to teach the children." Looking at my library of English, Americanized books, I realized I had none that were suitable. I tried to carve out some time to create some devotional studies. But constantly I was interrupted. After all, I had 90 teenage girls out my kitchen window and 120 small children passing my front door several times a day who delighted to ring the bell just for kicks. I decided that if I was to really put time into finding resources and developing a discipleship plan for the house parents and children, I needed to get away. Possibly to the US where I could access more materials.
But then God dropped a "bombshell." My team, family, and church leadership unanimously agreed: I needed to end my term and return to the US. Indefinitely.
What?? "But I'm just getting started," I told God. "This vision for discipling house parents of orphans is really exciting! It has tremendous potential to impact Your kingdom. What are you taking me back to the US to do?"
After taking a few months back in the US to readjust and determine the answer to that question, one finally came: "I want you to develop a discipleship training program for houseparents of orphans. Globally." At first I wasn't sure, but the more I explored and prayed about the idea, the more God confirmed. I had the unique and privileged experience to live, learn, and love in the Children's Home in the Saffron Land. Now, He was opening a way for me to leverage that experience to help orphans around the world.
That's what I'm working on now.
That's what I'm working on now.
I'll remain a missionary with the same agency, which means I'll still need financial support (since neither the children, nor their caretakers can pay for the discipleship training.) The job will be based in the US, but I'll travel to implement discipleship programs in children's homes in places such as Nepal, The Philippines, Vietnam, and Mexico. And more countries as God opens opportunities.
On missions frontiers that the gospel has already touched, missionary efforts are still very needed. To continue in evangelism, yes, but also to establish the believers who are there. So that THEY can bear evangelistic fruits. In societies that are less than 1% Christian, believers have very little means of discipleship intake. My prayer is to see the Western Church strengthen and equip these young believers to reach their societies for the kingdom of Christ. I'm privileged to have the opportunity to do this by building a discipleship program for house parents in children's homes.
If you are burdened for this and want to pray and/or financially give to the work of discipling orphans and their caretakers, please email me at: audreyj275@gmail.com or GIVE HERE.
"As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.
...Bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples."
John 20:21; 15:8
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