As we journey through life, God uses circumstances and people to teach us what He wants us to know. Many of those lessons come from unexpected places. Jesus, in His ministry, used the everyday, ordinary events and turned them into eternal lessons that theologians have been dissecting for centuries.

As I reflect on our 10-year journey with Buckner Orphan Care International (BOCI), I realize the true lessons we have learned come from the ones whom we came to serve – the children. God has taught us that our ministry is centered around His love for the children of the world, particularly for orphan children or those who, for whatever reason, have been disenfranchised.

We celebrate the ministry of BOCI and marvel at how the Lord has blessed our capacity to serve. Upon reflection, the measure of our ministry is not in its growth but how it is an extension of the Lord’s love for these special children. BOCI is just an expression of His heart and hands in response to the cries of children who live in orphanages, cities and villages most of us never knew existed. We are God’s answer to the prayers of children who are in the worst of circumstances. We are a visible demonstration of His love.

The Lord’s opening of the door for Buckner to extend the ministry to the children of the world was in His timing and for His purposes. He has uniquely prepared and equipped Buckner for this ministry. We have seen this time and time again as we developed relationships with governments, orphanages and ministry partners to impact the lives of children around the world.

For me, reflecting on our journey is not an exercise in chronology and programs, but a series of snapshots of individual children who made an impact on how I think about ministry and about God Himself. I think about children like Kenneth Mlandu, who I visited at the Nyangabwe Referral Hospital in Francistown, Botswana, who never had the chance to become a teenager. His grandmother slept in his hospital room for months praying for his cure. Kenneth was her last surviving grandchild. With tears streaming down her face, she told us how she could not bear to lose him.

Kenneth sat on his bed, his face swollen from steroids and tubes giving him oxygen to breathe. He was very warm and welcoming as he played with a red toy car. Kenneth’s only request when I asked him what he wanted was to have a new toy car with doors that opened. Kenneth died a few months after our visit.

I do not have a picture of Kenneth because he wanted to have us take his picture after he was well and at home. He was certain that he would survive his illness and we could take a picture of him playing soccer. We visited the cemetery he was ultimately buried in – one of many being created to handle AIDS deaths. I collected two stones from that cemetery and placed them in a shadow box.

I also placed a picture of a girl from a Christian school we visited in the middle of the Korongocho slum in Nairobi, Kenya, in the box. She has the sparkle of hope in her eyes and a smile that would melt anyone’s heart. Having both images in the box reminds me of the lesson that Kenneth taught me, that in the midst of death there is life and hope in Jesus Christ. It is true that Kenneth is no longer giving joy to his grandmother who loved him so much. Yet he is in the arms of Jesus and the thought of him at peace in Christ gives all who love him comfort. That is an image that no camera could capture.

I think of Isaac, my good friend in the Baptist Children’s Center in Nairobi, who one morning at camp mumbled out the words “I love you.” Isaac is one of the estimated 13 million children orphaned because of AIDS.

What Isaac said to me is not unusual. I have had so many children, some upon meeting me the first time say, “I love you.” I think it impacted me not only because I had spent the week with Isaac and we had become good friends, but also because of the manner in which Isaac said it. I could tell it took some effort for Isaac to get up the courage to say those words. So when he finally did speak clearly, it hit me. I could see it in his eyes. He was not saying, “I love you.” He was saying, “Will you love me?”

In expressing his love and need to be loved, Isaac taught me that despite the complexities of developing and managing ministry, the real essence and core of what we are mandated by our Lord to do is to love unconditionally. Ministry is about people; it’s about Christians loving other people and sharing the unconditional and sacrificial love which they have received from Christ.

I will never forget one night when we were driving three sisters back to their orphanage in Pakrof in the Vladimir region of Russia after a day of fun in Moscow. It was a cold, snowy night and we were getting back late. My wife and I have been supporting Luba, Katya and Vica for six years.

Luba leaned over to me and asked through our interpreter, “Why did you pick us?” I was silent. I did not know what to say. I had to ask myself why, of the more than 100 children I met that day at their orphanage, did these three sisters touch my heart? I finally looked at her and said, “I did not pick you – you picked me.” Luba made me realize that God brings ministry opportunities to us – we do not need to go look for them. They are all around us. Our responsibility is to be sensitive to them by looking inward at our own needs, but outside of ourselves. God gave me a great blessing to be a small part of these girls’ lives.

One of the great memories I have during this 10-year journey was when the children from St. Petersburg came to Dallas as part of our Angels from Abroad program. Seeing the kids get off the plane was a sight to behold. I will never forget Dima, a child from Orphanage No. 2, getting off the plane and running into James and Tracy Blakely’s arms. The Blakelys had been supporting Dima since they first met him and were in the process of adopting him. Seeing Dima in their arms, tears streaming down all their faces is an image of God’s love I will never forget.

As wonderful a moment as that was, the boy that really left an impression was Sergie. We had a very special day sponsored by First Baptist Church, Athens, Texas, at the lake home of one of our trustees, Lee Bush, and his wife, Susan. The kids spent the whole day playing on the lake, eating and generally having a great day.

A newspaper reporter was interviewing the children and sponsor families. She asked Sergie, “How would you compare Russian families to American families?” Sergie responded without hesitation, “I don’t know. I have never been in a family.” His short but profound response described what I have experienced in every orphanage I have visited around the world.

Every child yearns for a family to love them uniquely and unconditionally. It is so difficult to have a child sit in your lap and show you their picture book while you know in their mind they are hoping with all their heart that you choose them to be your child. I watch volunteers walking, holding a child’s hand and see the smile on the child’s face that says, “Look, I am special – this person chose me.”

The overwhelming aspect of ministry to orphans is there are more children in need than any one ministry can meet. I remember thinking this while sitting on the couch in an orphanage in a little Russian village called Mystora. I was sitting with a few kids talking and soon 10 children were pressing in on me so each could squeeze inside my outstretched arms for a picture.

Fortunately, God’s arms are big enough to wrap His love around all the orphan children in the world. BOCI has been privileged to be called as part of His ministry to reach out to these children and show them just how precious they are in His sight. What a privilege. What a responsibility.

Mike Douris is vice president and general manager of Buckner Orphan Care International. He has been with Buckner more than 20 years and has served with BOCI since its inception.