Lost in Nigeria

What would it be like to be 8 years old, thousands of miles from home, in an orphanage in a foreign country, and have no idea where your mom was? Can you imagine the lonliness? Can you imagine being in that place where you received hardly anything to eat and where you were deathly sick from malaria, all without the comfort of your mom?

One little 8 year old can. Her adopted mother, Mercury Liggins, had an opportunity to go to work in Iraq back in 2004. The opportunity offered a lucrative income, but Liggins had a problem: seven of them to be exact. You see, she had seven adopted children ranging in age from 8 to 16. But then her brother-in-law, who lived in Nigeria, offered to let the kids stay with him in exchange for 1500.00 per month which should have paid for their boarding school.

So Mercury took the offer and hopped a plane for Nigeria. She stayed with them for one month to settle them in, then went on to Iraq. She faithfully sent the money every month. But the brother-in-law began keeping the money instead of paying the school. The boarding school kicked the kids out and sent them to an oprhanage. Can you imagine how you’d feel?

Well, it was early August, 2004 when Warren Beemer left San Antonio. Warren was the youth pastor in Ken Hagee’s mega church. He was going on a mission trip . . . to, of all places, Nigeria. As a part of his trip he visited several orphanages. Imagine his surprise when, while he was there in one of those orphanages, a girl came up and started talking to him in English. Now it wasn’t the English that was so unusual. No, it was the peculiar kind of English she spoke. You see, she had a southern accent.

She told him an incredible story. She said that she was from Houston, Texas. Now Beemer knew that some of the kids might try to con him, so he was skeptical. But then the young lady recited her Social Security number. She told him some an incredible story. She spoke of her mother bringing her to Nigeria to live with her brother-in-law. She told of being put into a boarding school, getting kicked out because of an unpaid bill, and ending up in this orphanage. She had lost hope of ever returning home.

Then she took him to see her 6 brothers and sisters. When the children saw Beemer, they began to sing “The Star Spangled Banner.” Beemer called his pastor and a U. S. Congressman and, within 8 days, those children who had all but given up hope of ever being found were back in the United States.

As surely as God sent Warren Beemer to that particular orphanage at that particular time, God delivers the righteous. And you will never be a radiant believer until you truly settle into that truth. See, most believers lose their joy when trouble comes along. The struggles of life plunge them into deep anguish and waste precious time and precious opportunitites to glorify God. Is that you, this morning? Have you crawled into the pit of pity and begun to blame God. Have you begun to expect the deliverance He hasn’t promised? Have you even walked away from Him because you didn’t understand?