We Visited the Jusarang Orphanage (주사랑 공동체)

This is our first student blogger! Charissa and a few of her classmates went on a very special trip yesterday. Read all about it below! Thanks for being a guest blogger, Charissa!

Today, about half of the middle schoolers who were staying in Seoul went to visit the Jusarang Orphanage with Ms. Vosk. In Korean, “Jusarang” means God’s love. This orphanage is a place where all the disabled children are growing in God’s love and getting closer to Him everyday. The way this orphanage started was actually through Pastor Lee Jong-Rak’s son. Pastor Lee is the person who runs this orphanage, and he is the first person in Korea to build a babybox. Pastor Lee has two children. He has a daughter and a son. His daughter was born in a healthy condition, but his son was born with severe disabilities. Due to his son’s disabilities, he had to spend a lot of time taking care of his son in the hospital. While taking care of his son, he noticed that there was another girl with severe disabilities in the bed next to his son. That girl stayed in the hospital with her grandmother, because her parents left her at a very young age. One day, the grandma went up to Pastor Lee and said, “Pastor, I have been noticing the way you were taking such good care of your son, and trying everything you could in order to help him stay as healthy as possible and shower him with love. I am now very old, and I will die very soon. This makes me very concerned for my granddaughter. I know this is asking a lot, but if it is okay with you, would you be willing to take care of my granddaughter for me? If you accept my offer, then I will believe in Jesus Christ.” When Pastor Lee heard this, he knew that if this could save the grandma’s life by making her choose to put her trust in Jesus, he could not decline this offer. So he promised her that he will do his very best to help her granddaughter grow in the best conditions possible. Today, that girl is still living healthily in the orphanage, and she loves to smile. It was so nice to see her again today (I’ve been to this orphanage a few times before by myself before they moved)!

The man who works in the orphanage was very sweet and he was kind enough to spend about 3 hours tell us about the babybox and other details about the orphanage and what his thoughts about adoption and children being abandoned. He tried so hard to explain in a level so that we can understand, and in fact we were the first group with children who did not fall asleep during the explanation! I translated everything for three hours, and even though my throat hurts, it was so worth it and I actually had fun trying it! After the explanation, I was so so so excited to see all the kids again! I remembered most of them! I was so happy to see Pastor Lee’s (I think now 28 years old) son after quite a while! He was laying in bed with his legs stretched out in 180 degrees. He has never gotten out of his bed. The amazing part of it is that many people live with the misconception that people who are disabled are weak and have nothing to accomplish. But, it is through Pastor Lee’s son that this whole orphanage and babybox was able to get started. The Lord works in mysterious ways. I feel like this was such a great experience for me and my classmates, because every life is important. The way you are born does not define who you are. It’s your spirit that matters. And when I saw all those children, I immediately knew that their insides were all so beautiful. They were all so beautiful. I really wanted to spend some more time with them.

Albert Einstein has said that, “There are only two ways to live your life: as though nothing is a miracle, or as though everything is a miracle.” Thinking back, I used to live as though nothing is a miracle. I missed out on a lot. Miracles are everywhere. Miracles are God, and God is forgiveness. For the longest time, I haven’t thought much about people in this world who are living like this because I was busy complaining about what I didn’t have and what I didn’t like. But it’s okay because through this, I can start a new life where I remind myself to think more about people who are living under these conditions. God forgave me and He is constantly willing to help me become a better person everyday. This is the kind of God that I believe in. I believe in a God who wants to teach us to love everyone, including children who have disabilities. Pastor Lee has said that everything that has happened so far was through God. The only reason why it was possible for 1,043 kids to get sent safely to the babybox from 2005 until last week is because of God’s power and unconditional love. I want everyone in this world to know that they are not alone. I’m not alone. No one is alone. And whatever you may be going through, I am here to tell you that you are NOT alone. Miracles are God’s way of letting us know He’s here.

#studentblogger #fieldtrip #service