The first baby we received in the orphanage brought out the “mother hen” in everybody at Shadow of His Wings Orphanage. This little doll, with curly black hair and a big smile, captured everyone’s heart. The bomberos (the search and rescue people) named the baby Marita* when she was dropped off at their station. She stirred up great interest because nobody knew who she was or where she came from.

According to the information given to us, a woman found the baby in a box, took the box to the bomberos’ station, and prepared to leave without talking to anybody. Someone caught her, and she quickly said the baby didn’t belong to her, and she knew nothing about her. The bomberos took Marita to the children’s court, and she came to us from there.

Her care fell to me because I acted as the housemother, and in no time a strong bond formed. The girls loved taking care of her but in the form of playing dolls. They changed her clothes often and fixed her hair in various ways. They willingly changed her messy diapers. Marita rewarded all of the attention with her smiles and giggles. A casual observer could see that she had everyone wrapped around her little finger.

The human rights people initiated an investigation to find anyone who could identify Marita. We contributed to the search by putting her picture in the Prensa Libra newspaper and on TV for any possible leads. A woman claiming to be the mother went to the court immediately after seeing Marita’s picture. The next day she came to our door with a document that declared her right to visit the baby. The mother in me rose up in protest. What if she was not the real mother? How did Marita get lost? What stable mother would lose her baby? It seemed strange that the real mother would not know where her child had gone. We followed the court order, but someone stayed with the mother during the entire visit. With limited Spanish, I couldn’t ask the questions that would help me understand what happened, but I prayed we would have those answers soon.

After a month, another woman came to visit Marita. This woman told the court that she was the mother’s aunt. Our social worker closely followed any information that came from the human rights group, and they said she had documentation to prove her claims of being the biological great-aunt to the baby. Meanwhile, Marita and I drew closer together in a mother-daughter relationship. Just the thought of her leaving the orphanage tore my heart. I needed to prepare myself for this possibility. I did desire for her biological mother to have her child back if she truly loved her and would keep her safe. From our perspective, the mother’s story didn’t seem legitimate. Lord, please prepare me for what is coming. Help the officials to find the truth of what happened and to place Marita with people who will love and care for her.

I wanted to keep Marita with us for her protection, but more importantly, I knew she should be with her biological family. After a good talking to myself, I realized this would be one of many lessons in trusting the Lord to protect the children who came through Shadow of His Wings Orphanage. I would have to let some of them go. I knew I needed the help of the Lord to accomplish this. Could I reconcile the idea that Shadow of His Wings Orphanage, a place of refuge for children, would be temporary in the lives of most of those received?

*Name has been changed.