In 1994, two Americans
answered an invitation from the Russian Department of
Education to teach morals and ethics (based on biblical
principles) in the public schools. They were invited to teach
at prisons, businesses, the fire and police departments and a
large orphanage. About 100 boys and girls who had been
abandoned,abused, and left in the care of a government-runp
rogram were in the orphanage. They relate the following story
in their own words:
It was nearing the
holiday season, 1994, time for our orphans to hear for the
first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them
about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem. Finding no room
in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus
was born and placed in a manger. Throughout the story, the
children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they
listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to
grasp every word. Completing the story, we gave the children
three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger. Each
child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins
I had brought with me. No colored paper was available in the
city.
Following instructions,
the children tore the paper and carefully laid strips in the
manger for straw. Small squares of flannel, cut from a
worn-out nightgown an American lady was throwing away as she
left Russia, were used for the baby's blanket. A doll-like
baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from the United
States. The orphans were busy assembling their manger as I
walked among them to see if they needed any help.
All went well until I
got to one table where little Misha sat. He looked to be about
6 years old and had finished his project. As I looked at the
little boy's manger, I was startled to see not one, but two
babies in the manger.
Quickly, I called for
the translator to ask the lad why there were two babies in the
manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at this
completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story
very seriously. For such a young boy, who had only heard the
Christmas story once, he related the happenings
accurately-until he came to the part where Mary put the baby
Jesus in the manger.
Then Misha started to
ad-lib. He made up his own ending to the story as he said,
"And when Maria laid the
baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a
place to stay. I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa,
so I don't have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could
stay with him. But I told him I couldn't, because I didn't
have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted
to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that
maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him
warm, that would be a good gift. So I asked Jesus, "If I keep
you warm, will that be a good enough gift?"
And Jesus told me, "If
you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave
me."
"So I got into the
manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could
stay with him---for always."
As little Misha finished
his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down
his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head
dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and
sobbed.
The little orphan had
found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him, someone
who would stay with him -- FOR ALWAYS.
I've learned that it's
not what you have in your life, but who you have in your life
that counts.
