“They are my dream family”

April 27, 2021

This month is a fun one at GCA for many reasons. One reason is that we get to celebrate a homecoming.

As we wrote last month, GCA used to operate four children’s homes.  While we never believed this was the absolute best for kids, we just didn’t know (at the time) how to do it differently.  Once we did, we jumped at the chance to help build an infrastructure in our communities to care for children as they were designed to be cared for: in family.  In the midst of our commitment to family, we have also continued our commitment to the children that have been in our care.  They are ours, so to speak, until they can call a family their own.

Several boys have been waiting in our care, receiving love and nurture from our transition home team while we have prayed and dreamed for families for each of them. Early this year, one of these boys was placed in his forever family and now another boy is going home too.

His story is beautiful.  It’s also hard.  It highlights a lot of the challenges in this space all within the short few years he’s been on the planet.  That’s a lot of weight to put on the shoulders of a small boy.  

You see, he was abandoned early on in life from his first family.  This was likely not malicious.  His family didn’t see how they could care for him, so surrendered him to the local children’s home.  We took the best care of him that we could.  At one point, we thought we had found him a family, but it just wasn’t quite the right fit.  Which is hard to say but important to understand.  When we are looking to care for orphaned and vulnerable children, it is not a quantity issue.  Despite the overwhelming numbers, we cannot just seek to place as many children as possible.  We have to look for the right fit.  There were no bad hearts in this scenario, it just wasn’t the best fit.  So he returned to our transition home and we continued to pray. 

While we were praying, the Lord was working within a local family.  One who is closely tied within our GCA family, so this little boy has encountered them often.  They have even provided respite care for him at times. 

So last week, our social worker got to pull this boy aside and tell him that this family would like to bring him home.  Finally and fully home.  As a son.  Not a temporary guest, but a son. 

 His response?

“They are my dream family.”

This is our hope and our dream for every child in our care at GCA. This is what we are pushing for.  And more broadly speaking, this is why we work within the global care reform movement with such fierce determination as well.  Yes, it’s important that we work as quickly as possible to get as many kids home and out of institutions and poor living conditions as possible.  AND, we must push until every kid can say the same thing: “this is my dream family.”

This is possible, friends.  At GCA, we’re committed to this end.  We’ll keep laboring, we’ll keep pushing, we’ll keep praying. 

Thank you for being with us in the messy middle of the stories we tell you.  Today, we thank you for being with us in this moment of triumph. 

There’s one less “orphan” today. And one more son. 

Our joy is enormous.  Thank you for sharing it with us.