Today I received this email from a reader of my book Children of Dreams. I was moved because it was written by a Christian pastor, Bob Saffrin, who just recently returned from India. So many children, so many needs. What we could do if more Christian families would choose adoption, or even sponsor a child internationally.
I read your book Children of Dreams on
the 20+ hour plane ride to India. I thought it would be a book that appealed
more to women but I wanted to read it because I am trying to read stuff that
will help me be a better author.
I was surprised. I think it is the best book I
have read for as long as I can remember! I was so touched by your struggles to
have a family and how well you related it all to God’s own efforts to have
a family. Mercy is not my giftedness but I have been on many trips with “moms”
who cry over little naked village children with no hope and no future. They cry
as we get into our rented SUV and drive off, leaving them behind.
This year I
met a 12-year-old boy who worked in a brickyard making bricks by hand by
filling a wooden mold with mud. He had no family, his mother just dropped him
off there when he was 5 because she couldn’t feed him. I asked him how much
money he made. He said he had to make 1000 bricks a day. It took him 12 hours,
7 days a week and he made 5 rupees a day (10c), and they also gave him rice.
This boy was a virtual slave and I stood there and there was nothing I could
do. I made friends with him, had him teach me how to make bricks, and
introduced him to Jesus but in the end, I got in the car and drove away.
I was
touched as I read your book to hear of two little girls who God rescued from
the darkness and the hopelessness. I wish every woman that is considering an
abortion could read your book. I’m so glad that in your book you
recognized that they truly are children of dreams but they aren’t your dreams,
they are God’s. You just got to go along for the ride. Little by little I’m
learning to let go of my dreams and connect with God’s dreams for my life.
Some
of the cultural issues you dealt with in Nepal reminded me of India. In India, unless you are in a major city there is no such thing as TP. If you ask they
don’t even know what you are talking about. When I meet with new team members
for India I usually tell them they can bring their own or I will have it for
sale for $1.00 a sheet. It seems that God has given you and me a similar call to
adventure. By the way, I looked at your Facebook photos because I wanted to see
Manisha and Joy and I discovered that you and I share the same birthday – Oct
17th. J
