Let the children come to me

Children. We equate them with laughter. Winsome wonderment. Uninhibited dancing, twirling, skipping. Rough and tumble rowdiness.

Yes, all these—the outpouring of overflowing joy!

Rarely will we allow ourselves to think about abandonment, homelessness, malnutrition, malaria, and HIV when we hear the word child and yet, more little ones around the globe suffer from these than not.

And still, they—

• Laugh.
• Wonder.
• Dance, twirl and skip.
• Rough-house.

Despite harsh, difficult, often dire circumstances, these children, too, experience joy. How? Because they know the secret.

As we read in Matthew, Jesus took the little ones on his knee, smiled down on them, then blessed them—but only after reprimanding those who tried to stop them from coming.

And I wonder? Did our Savior see across generations, picture each precious face, every boy and girl ever born, and say to them too, in that moment—

“Come!”

And what is the reward? For whom is the reward? Were we among the faces Jesus saw in that moment so long ago?

…the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children (v. 14b).

Tucked deep in Africa’s Uganda, there’s a community, a pastor, who’s heeding Jesus’s words. He, too, says “Come”—calling those who are—

• Abandoned.
• Homeless.
• Sick with malaria.
• Suffering from HIV.
• Malnourished.

Pastor Elijah Mugisa and is his wife Evelyn heard Jesus when he called them to come. And
continuing to live with childlike faith—amid extreme poverty compared to the world’s standards—they demonstrate Jesus’s love by calling children to come as well.

With five biological sons and daughters of their own, with another on the way, they’re currently caring for twenty orphans also—children who’ve been abandoned, many suffering with malaria, HIV, and malnutrition.

In the couple’s care, despite adversity, much of which most can’t comprehend, these children—

• Laugh.
• Wonder.
• Dance, twirl and skip.
• Rough-house.

More, having found their way to the Yahweh Faith Foundation, they receive—

• Education.
• Nutrition / Medical Care.
• Spiritual / Mental Health Assistance.
• Family Livelihood Improvement.

Just as Jesus called to the little children so many years ago, he called Pastor Elijah, and he’s calling to his children still—yes, calling to us, his sons and daughters.

As Jesus’s children, we’re given the privilege of participating in his work, right here on earth, as it is—as it will always be—in heaven.

Let us not hinder them, but, like Jesus, echo his words. “Let the children come.” In doing so, we, too, can know the secret, experience it for ourselves.

No matter what—

There’s joy in Jesus!