Largeness of Heart

Largeness of Heart

Dillon came to school in January of 2007, a 17 year old high school junior who was sent to the states by his South African parents to finish high school. He was a pleasant young man somewhat overwhelmed by life in America. I knew his parents were in the ministry, but never questioned Dillon about what they were involved in.

Two weeks ago Dillon let me know that his parents were coming in for his graduation and that they would love to share in chapel. Today I met them for the first time and their story, their lives, birthed the title, largeness of heart, of today's devotion. It's taken from I Kings 4:29 that says "God gave Solomon ...largeness of heart, even as the sand on the seashore."

Ray and Sue Hakkenson shared how they started Beautiful Gate, a home and a refuge for abandoned babies in Lesotho, a small country just north of South Africa. They take in babies whose parents abandon them at birth or shortly afterwards, and raise them while trying to find someone to adopt them into a family. From the wonderful stories of those rescued and in placed in new families, to the sad, heartbreaking stories of infants dying in their arms, I was touched by their testimony and by their commitment to these children.

And their lives backed up their testimony. With them today were two children whom they had adopted themselves. One girl had been left at the hospital, her mom walked out without her and never came back. The other girl, born with HIV, lost her mother at childbirth and her father shortly afterwards. To see the love that this white South African couple showed these two black South African girls, to see the place they had in their hearts as they held them in their arms was both inspiring and challenging. Largeness of heart refers to a heart that has room in it for other people. Largeness of heart refers to a heart that can look beyond it's own needs, can see the hurts in other lives, and be touched to the point of trying to help alleviate the suffering and pain.

Ray and Sue Hakkenson started Beautiful Gate in 2001, their response to seeing abandoned children that weren't being cared for. God has blessed them with largeness of heart for the hundreds of babies and young children they have ministered to. Let's ask the Lord to give us largeness of heart and to bring us to that place where there is room in our hearts for the hurting, the hopeless, the lonely, and the lost who are all around us.

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church