Falling through our Fingers

"True and undefiled religion in the sight of God, the Father, is this:  to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unspotted by the world."  James 1:27

The following is a story that I shared for the first time at Focus on the Family just about one year ago.   I am posting this as a blog because of how Theresie's terrible illness, which I spoke about a couple blogs ago, is now serving as a strong reminder in my own walk to pour out, even when it is difficult, for the ones whom I rarely see.

The date was April 18th, 1993, and the place - Taroko Gorge, Taiwan. 

Taroko Gorge is a gaping rift in the eastern mountains, with shear marble cliffs and deep gorges rising up from the riverbed below.  It is made up of winding tunnels, raging rapids and waterfalls, jagged rock and deep tropical shallows.

A group of college students spent the day hiking these breathtaking gorges and riding mopeds along the road up its winding cliffs.  As one of the students in that group, I can vividly remember feeling overwhelmed by the gorge’s beauty and utterly amazed as I viewed God’s creative landscape.

My time of gazing and wonderment was quenched abruptly when some representatives from our study-abroad program met us along the road and gave us the news that all students were to return to the ship immediately.  We were told that two of our classmates, who also had gone off together to hike and climb, had fallen into the Gorge.  One of the boys we heard had already been found and rescued; but the other boy was still missing.

We were stunned!  How could this have happened to someone in our own group?  He is just a student, far away from home, away from his family.

Our university ship eventually left port without this young man, and we continued to receive word that he still had not been found.  We heard about all the many resources that had come together to search for him.  We heard that Brett was apparently the son of someone very important.  We heard about his family’s great wealth.  The financial numbers quoted, although incomprehensible to most of us, brought great comfort to us knowing that his parents were sparing nothing– not one dime – for a search and hopefully a rescue of their son.  Helicopters and round the clock search parties, you name it. It was all called upon.  It was sent.  It arrived, and the search continued for a very, very long time.

Back on the ship, in the coming days, conversations were consumed entirely by this one who was lost.  Many tears of mourning the potential loss had already been shed.  Life seemed to stop on ship as we just waited for news.  We all wanted to do something because he’s one of us.  It could have been any one of us.

We were keenly aware that this lost boy was somebody’s son!  His name - Brett Russell Crawford.  And he was somebody’s son, alright - the son of Gordon Crawford.  According to The La Weekly, and I quote:

“Gordon Crawford is the guy who, once upon a time, placed a big bet on what were then blue-chip entertainment stocks and made gazillions for a lot of people, including himself.  As those show-biz firms morphed into Big Media, Crawford assumed even more power when his investment positions became huger by default. None of this is to say that Gordy isn't a great guy. People love him. Besides, it's hard to say a harsh word about someone who in 1993 suffered such a profound personal tragedy: the death of his 21-year-old son Brett during a hiking accident in Taiwan while enrolled in a semester-at-sea program. Crawford has told friends:  ‘I’d give up all the money I ever made for one hour with him’.”

Brett’s face, his name, his story will be remember by all who traveled on that ship.  WHY? We saw him as one of us, and because he was the son of an important man.

And yet for so many sons and daughters, who have fallen through the cracks – LOST, in great distress, many barely hanging on and in desperate need of rescue, no one searches, no one comes, no money is sent.  No one prays, no one mourns, and no one remembers them!  Even though we may have seen them, their pained faces, their hurting bodies, heard about the scars to their fragile souls, whether we passed them on the streets, saw them on TV or witnessed their lives as we walked their neighborhoods, or even if we spent time in their homes, still we forget them.  Yet all are members of the ship of suffering, part of the program of life.  Perhaps we considered their plight briefly, but now we cannot even picture their faces.  Why? I suppose it would be different if they were our own children or our friends’ children or for that matter the children of important, wealthy men.  But instead, these sons and daughters are not the children of important men, they are nobody’s children really, they are the fatherless – these children are just orphans.

Spend some time talking to child welfare professionals or government representatives about children who are repeatedly abused and neglected in state run systems.  Inquire about those who have been lost or even killed in government funded foster care or group homes, or learn more about the ones who died while still on the streets, and you will most assuredly hear the them saying, “These are the ones who fell through the cracks.” 

A very wise woman I used to work for on Capitol Hill once said when addressing some of these professionals, “These children do not fall through CRACKS, they fall through FINGERS!”

Perhaps in the context that this Senator was speaking ,she was referring to fingers of government workers; however, God never entrusted the fatherless to government systems.  He, Almighty God that is, the One who calls Himself the Father of the Fatherless, entrusted them to His bride, those who make up His church (big C church).  And He asked us to hold on to them for Him as His Ambassadors; as His loving Hands extended.

You see – we must understand clearly that from God’s perspective the fingers through which these children are falling ARE OURS!

Why do we not understand what God has asked of us? Why do we do not see that these are God’s children? Talk about a powerful, wealthy, and wise father.  The father of the orphans is the King of Kings.  The One who says He owns all the gold and all the silver; the One who is wisdom Himself; the One we claim to love with all our hearts and all our souls and all our minds, He is their father!  They are His Children!  The King of Kings calls Himself the Father of the Fatherless!      

What are we willing to sacrifice to spend time with the fatherless, getting to know them, loving them, or helping them in their distress?  Could we ever say as Gordon Crawford said: “I’d give up all the money I ever made for one hour with him”?

Prayer update:  Thank you for your prayers for Theresie in her illness, for my neighbor Bill in his sudden inability to walk, the Raineys and Mutz in the loss of baby Molly,  the Chapman family in the loss of Maria, and for all those who have commented about their own great losses. 

Several people have stepped up to try and get Theresie proper care in Africa.  Bill is home and has feeling in his legs and been given a prognosis of good chance to walk again.  As for the Chapmans and their continued grief:  each time I interact with Mary Beth she says, "Please encourage people to continue to pray for us."  I know the Chapmans are doing there very best to cling to Jesus and love one another in this painful time.  So, please continue to pray for them and for the others who have recently lost loved ones. 

And for those of you who have shared about your own struggles, whether it be the loss of a child, a parents, infertility struggles, or hurts inflicted by the brethren, please know that I have prayed for each of you who have commented.  I do not take your prayer requests lightly.  God honors your heart in seeking aid in prayer.  And I believe the best way we can keep our loved ones and the little ones who are in trouble from falling through our fingers is to clasp our hands together in prayer and implore the father on their behalf!   

Comments

[Debbie from Ohio]

Thank you for reminding us of this. You are so insightful and I see why God has placed you at "Show Hope." You truly are called of God for the fatherless. I am going to make an even greater effort to pray for them. We continue to pray for the Chapman's as well and the others that are ill or hurting. God's blessings on all of you!

[Beka]

I listened to your Orphan's Summit speech where you told this story and made this point. How completely true and utterly convicting. It really makes me not want to take one single person, or tragedy for that matter, for granted.

[rachel]

Thank you for those words from God. He has placed these kids on my heart in the recent months. I pray that when the time is right I would be able to help care for them. I see that he does not want me to forget them.

[coach purses]

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