Ken Turner on an orphanage and a school

Ken Turner

When Jesus left the glory of heaven and came to earth as a man, His message can be summarised in His phrase, "Repent for the Kingdom of GOD is near." By this He indicated that the "rule of GOD" was again being re-established on earth. This Kingdom is expressed when "His will is done on earth as it is in heaven." This Kingdom rule can be experienced and expressed by all who repent and believe this Good News.

Jesus explained in many parables what the Kingdom of GOD is like. On one occasion He used a mustard seed as an example. He explained that a mustard seed, despite being the smallest of seeds, grows to be the biggest plant in the garden, big enough for birds to make their nests in its branches. He taught that the Kingdom rule of GOD brings life that is surprising and amazing, from very small beginnings it grows into something so large that it is beyond what we can think or imagine.

I was reminded of this on a recent visit to Malawi, one of the poorest nations in Africa. Eighty five percent of its people are rural dwellers who live off the land as subsistence farmers. Poverty is widespread and when the rains fail there is great suffering and even death from starvation. The number of orphans increases each year as death of parents from AIDS and natural causes grows.

We had the privilege of visiting an orphanage in an impromptu visit. A husband and wife team founded and continue to run this ministry. The wife spoke of a time some years back when her husband was a school teacher. One evening at dusk they answered a knock at the door and found a small girl standing there, very frightened and weak. She was an orphan and had come to ask for food. They brought her in, fed her and gave her a place to sleep under their roof and decided to continue looking after her as a member of their family. By that act of obedience they planted a Kingdom "mustard seed".

That "knock on their door" was followed by another and another and another. Soon they were looking after a number of orphans. Her husband resigned his job as a teacher and now they faced a new challenge in looking after their ever growing family. Remember this was done in an area that is more characterised by poverty than for prosperity.

Appeals to the church, the community and the government for aid for the orphans were completely unsuccessful, so their need to trust GOD for each day grew. GOD was faithful, and the number of orphans continued to grow. Her husband was able to start two successful businesses, one milling maize into "maize flour, the staple diet of the rural people, the other a taxi business, this being the most common form of transport after your own feet or a bicycle.

At the time of our visit, they had built an orphanage consisting of a girls and boys dormitory, kitchen and gathering area. There were seventy two orphans living there, they were being clothed and fed and attended the local school. The atmosphere was one of peace and blessing. The mustard seed had grown into something far beyond what they could ever have imagined and which they freely attribute to the blessing of GOD flowing into a seemingly barren situation. The surrounding area is still characterised by a hand to mouth existence.

This visit took place about eighteen months ago. We were passing the orphanage in a mini-bus while visiting a number of "Early Childhood Development" projects in the area. These visits were motivated by a request from the people of a village about 80 kilometres away from the orphanage. We had been asked to help them establish something in their village to help care for and stimulate the village children who were still too small to go to school. In the mini bus with us were ten people from that village.

As we drove away from that orphanage, one of the villagers commented, "we want our children to be as happy and cared for and as well behaved as those children". At that moment another Kingdom "mustard seed" was planted.

None of us knew how this was going to take shape, but on the flight back to South Africa, we sat next to a man who "just happened" to be the National Chief for Early Childhood Development in Malawi. As we shared what we had been doing and what the villagers desired for their children, he invited us to meet with him next time we came to Malawi. We took up his invitation, and from our visit flowed a curriculum, work books, training opportunities for the village "Committee" who headed up the project, plus training for teachers and care givers.

The result of all this is that today an Early Childhood Development School with a hundred pupils, a number of them orphans, operates every weekday and serves five villages in the area. A trained Committee and teaching staff work at the project every day. Parents help with the cooking of a mid-day meal and building facilities for the school. All of these work as volunteers without pay.

We also received a gift of ten tons of Vitamin enriched maize meal to provide the mid-day meal. Also a maize mill, which will provide an income for the expansion of the work, is in the final stages of erection.

The seed that was planted because of the testimony of our first visit to an orphanage has grown far beyond what we could think or imagine. The Kingdom parable that Jesus told two thousand years ago is still pregnant with power to grow and amaze even those who work on the project.

I trust that this account will do for you what that visit to the orphanage did for us. That it will stir you to ask GOD what mustard seed He wants you to plant. As you listen to Him, don't be put off by the seeming impossibility of what you hear, just remember that its not about you, its about the amazing power that is intrinsic in any Kingdom activity. This power comes from GOD, through you, not from you. We found that out as we journeyed together with those villagers, what we didn't have GOD provided, but that provision didn't come until we planted the seed. It has amazed us what can flow from small beginnings.