One of the big fears that I had going into this trip was failure. You see Shanna had spent 10 trips telling stories of how awesome I was. She probably had never told one story of me being worn out, snapping at the kids or just having a really apathetic day. I fail as a father and as a follower of Christ on a regular basis. So the real Jerome was about to meet 108 children that call me “Dad Jerome”. Even if I was amazing the whole trip I still was only one man with so many children. On the orphanage wall as I walked in I was confronted with a message in big letters written “Welcome Dad Jerome”
All the boys gathered around and the suitcases
were carried in. After talking to my
son Benjamin in person for the first time I opened a suitcase and started
giving bibles out to the boys that needed one. Then I preached to them 2 Peter 1 “And we have the word of the Prophets made more certain, and you will do
well to pay attention to it as to a light in a dark place. ABOVE ALL YOU MUST
UNDERSTAND THAT NO PROPHECY CAME ABOUT BY THE PROPHETS OWN INTERPRETATION…”
As I walked about the orphanage that night
boys were all over studying the bible. Many brought questions, some ask me to
quote scriptures to them and then asked me to teach them. One question turned
into about an hour-long bible study with about 12 boys! Some vowed to memorize
scripture like me…All the way until
about 130 or 2 AM in the morning this went on and on.
The next morning I woke up at 5 AM to an
unexpected sound. The Muslim call to
prayer was broadcast loudly all around the orphanage. A few hours later we
headed to the soccer field. The boys wanted to hold a soccer game between the
high school and college boys. The field was
highly un-level and it was covered with sand, rocks and holes. Very dangerous
but I could not resist playing with them so I inserted myself into the game. It
was really hot and humid but I was determined to play. I felt faint near the end
but I kept thinking, “I am not going to let them down by having to leave the
game”. I scored the first goal, broke
one of my toes but I survived. Later when Shanna asked my son Solomon his
favorite part of the trip he said, “Dad scoring the first goal in soccer and
also leading people to Christ with him.” HA!
Not exactly on the same scale. 
1 Thessalonians 2:11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
I felt God encouraging me to obey this scripture. So I sought out several of the older boys and told them how proud I was of them. One by one I saw extreme joy on their faces as I listed reasons I was proud of them. The last was the most notable though. Gabriel was with me about 1 AM when I walked up to my room. I told him I was proud of how well he performed in soccer earlier. I told him I was proud of his hard work in college and I told him I was proud of how bold he is in the Lord. He looked stunned when I was saying these things. He very quickly said bye and left. 15 minutes later he returned with a full page letter talking about how much he loved me and how much he thanked God for me and Shanna. 15 minutes later I walked downstairs and he was co leading a random bible study with about 25 boys! They all had their new bibles in hand and were taking turns telling the stories that inspire them. Here we sit thousands of years later and boys thousands of miles away are telling THE Story. The Story of a strong Father.
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