Binding Up the Broken Hearted

Throughout the week we have had the privilege to provide prayer and pastoral care to the remarkable missionaries and staff who serve at Iris. Yesterday, however, we switched things up and prayed for some of the kids. We had done a little of this last July, and it seemed to go well, but we weren't quite sure what to expect with the kids we were meeting with this time who ranged in age from 6 to 15.

All of the kids we prayed for have experienced trauma. Sadly, this was to be expected as I doubt there are any children at Iris who have not experienced some sort of trauma in their short lives. Abandonment, death of parents, serious injury or illness, abuse, rape...these and other traumas are all too common among the beautiful children at Iris. This visit we came prepared with some new trauma resources and prayed that God would guide us. 

What we never expected was the way God would intervene to bring healing to a precious 6-year-old girl. We were told that this girl had been acting out toward other girls in her house. Her behavior was quite troubling, and the staff suspected it was tied to some sort of abuse she had likely experienced when she was very young.

This girl was really too young to take an active role in some of the prayers and forgiveness exercises we like to use with adults and older children, so we opted to just pray over her for healing of the trauma. We asked our translator not to translate as we prayed and left it up to the Holy Spirit to work in her broken heart. I picked the tiny girl up and put her on my lap as we prayed. She seemed happy to be held, and we continued to pray in words she could not understand. A few minutes later, I noticed a change in her. It was like a switch flipped and all of the tension in her body suddenly began to be released. She leaned heavily against me and her breathing seemed to slow. A certain peace had come upon her. Bruce noticed this as well and nodded in acknowledgment that God seemed to be accomplishing something through the prayer. So we continued praying, and what happened next is really hard to put into words....

As I looked down at the the child's sweet little face I watched her eyes begin to moisten. Bruce said it was like watching her melt before our eyes. Then a tear fell from those welled up eyes and flowed down her cheek. That tear was followed by many others. I wrapped my arms tighter around her as the tears continued to come. I rocked her and just asked God to continue doing whatever amazing work he was doing in her heart. We gently spoke words of love and healing and affirmation over her as I held her tightly.

We had also been told that her mother had died before the girl was a year old, but that she'd had a close relationship with her father until he suddenly stopped visiting her three years ago, which had upset her deeply. With this in mind, I placed her in Bruce's arms hoping that she could receive some healing from her experience of having been abandoned by her father. What happened then was, honestly, one of the most moving things I've ever witnessed. Her tears continued to flow as Bruce wrapped his arms around her. Her heart was longing to know she was loved, and I watched as she turned her head and nuzzled into Bruce's chest like a child in the arms of a loving father. Throughout this, we continued to whisper words of love over her. For the longest time, we sat spellbound with love for this little girl who was pouring out her broken heart in our very arms. Both Bruce and I were in tears. 

I have no doubt that we witnessed a miracle today. It is not as if this child had not been held before. All of the children at Iris receive an abundance of love and hugs from the wonderful Iris staff and volunteers. But today was something more. She did not consciously know what we were praying for her, but her spirit did. Her spirit responded to the work of the Holy Spirit and allowed her, perhaps for the first time, to truly grieve and accept the love and comfort she so desperately needed.

Eventually, we led her out of the room to rejoin the Iris staff who know and love her. She grabbed both of our hands and walked between us down the short hallway. Even as she was being offered popcorn and a Disney movie, she clung to Bruce's leg and refused to let go. She wanted to hold on to the amazing love she had just experienced, a love that could only come from one source. Bruce and I are so humbled to have been invited into this little girl's very real encounter with the all-surpassing love of her Heavenly Father, and we are so thankful for the power of His love, which truly does "bind up the broken hearted." (Isaiah 61:1)

Some beautiful Iris kids dressed in their Sunday best for church.