Meet Noor

This year we decided as a family to sponsor a child through World Vision. I have hopes of enlarging Joshua's view of the world as well as opening our eyes to the blessings we enjoy every day and often take for granted.

We went down to Family Christian Store to choose a child. It was an important decision because we plan on this being a long-term commitment. We plan on supporting this child till he/she is grown and hope that we can get to know him/her personally and even have a teeny hope that one day we can meet.

Joshua was very serious when he was looking through the available children. The store had them separated by country. He knew he wanted a boy, and he wanted him to be around the same age as he is. We looked at all the beautiful little African children with their haunting eyes and beautiful smiles. Joshua contemplated each one but when we got to the stack labeled "Jerusalem," his eyes lit up. "That's it!" he said. "I want to adopt a boy from Jerusalem, like Jesus was."

So Noor became ours. He is not what I pictured when I imagined "our" child. He's not from Africa or even Asia. He doesn't look like he's starving. And he's not even Jewish, like Joshua thought.

He lives in Palestine. He's most likely Muslim. He has 6 brothers and sisters and he lives in a city. You know, I hadn't even considered that World Vision is there for these children. Maybe I'm naive, or more likely, clueless. What I know now is that little children like Noor have little chance of going to school because it's simply not a priority. He lives in fear of violence and war and has for his entire life of 6 years. He is in need of clean drinking water and most likely lives without electricity in a cramped cement building.

It's funny how when we think we are doing something to "teach" someone else, we often end up being the ones who learn. Our family will learn more about Palestine because of our Noor. We will open our hearts to a little Muslim boy who never crossed our minds before. We will remember to pray for the little children caught up in the violence that has torn apart that region since before Christ walked there. And all because of my little 6 year old who wanted to help someone where Jesus lived.