What was that sound?  I’ve heard it before…

It came as she stepped out of the SUV in front of a small home/school of excited children.   The sound as her heart hit the ground.  It’s still there.

“This has to become a LoveManifest school” she said, completely unaware that she’d spoken it out loud.

Caitlin Clary

90 orphaned and semi orphaned children, all under the age of 10 being educated and housed in a small area of Rathinangudi Southern India in one instant had a mother.  Someone who was willing to go outside her comfort zone with an urgency and determination that would cause her to do whatever she had to do to care for these children.   Her children.

Anything for these kids.

It happens that fast.  One minute you have three children, and in an instant, you have 93.

It’s that kind of fire that moves us.  A God sized urgency saying “your children are dying”, or “your children are missing”, or “your children are hungry” or….  Not a proposal.  That’s just paper.   Necessary, yes, but can’t really show the reality of the situation.  If you’ve ever written a proposal, you know what I mean.  We can never adequately relay the urgency with the same weight as standing in the middle of 90 kids.  Real kids.  Real parentless kids.  Then listening as God says, “this is why you’re here.”

Caitlin heard Him.  “Here am I”, she said.

I don’t think she even waited until we got home to start organizing a team (iGo) to work toward the care and education of these kids.  Her kids.

Chickens!

A goal of $6,000, she and her husband arranged a garage sale which included our whole community, captained a team at the Sonoma County Human Race, inspired a matching donor, begged people to listen and give, and together, her team raised over $7500, and provided everything these kids need for one year PLUS a small chicken coop of 200 chickens.

Many others stepped up too.  Because passion like this… it’s contagious, and a local hero added his Murphy-Goode Award to  an amount given by another donor (who just happens to be passionate about orphans AND chickens!  What are the odds!) in order to provide 20 goats and 3 cows, putting us much closer toward the goal of sustainability.

These kids are quite fortunate.  They have a Father.  One in heaven, and one on the ground named Father Dhana.   Both patient and persistent.  It took more than one visit for us.  In fact, I’d been there twice before the proposal came.  What we didn’t know, was it was going to take a visit from one young woman who was going to hear Him.  Maybe I wasn’t listening. Or maybe He was waiting for her.

One person can’t do it all.  It’s true.  But one person can do something.  Just ask the 90 kids at the LoveManifest Home & School at Rathinangudi.

Love, Val