Noldine

Noldine # 2 I have known this little girl for 2 years now. For some reason, I bonded with her more than any other child in the village. She was different. She was special. When I first found her, she was sitting in the dirt. She could not walk or talk at 2 years old. This is what started our journey together. Through the power of prayer, people came together to help buy her food and vitamins. I worked with her everyday trying to get her to balance on two feet. She was malnourished, neglected, and developmentally slow. Her knees stayed bent and her back was crooked. But after some time she miraculously started to crawl, and then walk, and slowly a year later, started to talk. When I opened the orphanage I wondered everyday if she would come. I knew in order to get her the schooling and care that she needed, she needed to come but I also knew that she had family. And sometimes it is best to keep the child with the family.

But Noldine was different. All of my family and friends already knew her. She was “famous” through La Limye’s mission teams. She was the first child I fell in love with. When days got hard and I didn’t want to push on, I would go to her house. One look at her, and I knew I had to keep moving. Keep trying. Keep believing. And so I did. Noldine is the reason I haven’t given up yet. I haven’t gotten burnt out yet. Once the doors of the ministry opened, she was not my first but the 2nd. When she arrived there was no doubt in my mind that I shouldn’t take her. I knew right then that the past two years that I had been with this child were leading up to this day. God has already written the story and already knew the outcome and already planned that she would one day live with me. Noldine will be 4 in August. Yet, she cannot count to 5 and does not know any of her colors. We have a lot to do before potentially sending her to school in September. But I have no doubt that she can’t learn in time. God showed me what a miracle was through this child. There was no hope for this child to walk after being in the condition that she was in. Her bones were completely crooked. But when God says walk, she walks. She has given me every reason in the world to believe in miracles. Because she is one. God can heal and will heal. He is JEHOVAH JIRAH. He is JEHOVAH RAPHA. He is IMMANUEL Jesus said, “There’s nothing God can’t do.” Mathew 19:26