The Dropbox

The other night I learned about a new documentary called “The Dropbox”. It’s about a pastor in South Korea with a disabled son who spent 14 years in a hospital. Through this trial he developed great love for those with disabilities.
Sadly, in South Korea (and other places in the world) there is a growing problem with mothers abandoning their newborns in the streets for various reasons, one being if the child is disabled.
Pastor Lee Jong-rak saw this problem first hand and wanted to do something to help. He installed a “baby box” in the wall of his home to give mothers an alternative to leaving their babies in the streets. It has a door on both sides of the wall and inside are warmers and a blanket. When a baby is put in from the outside a bell rings on the inside and the pastor comes to take the baby out of the box. Most drop-offs are anonymous.
This man and his wife currently have nearly fifteen children in their home. It is an orphanage but the difference is that these kids have a mom and dad. He and his wife have adopted many of them and care for them as their own.
When watching just a snippet from the trailer my heart broke for these little abandoned babies, the mothers and the people who are trying to make a difference. I cried. A lot.
Later I told my husband about it and cried again, but we had a really good discussion about helping others and how we should find ways to serve that utilize the talents we have been given.
I have always had this fear in the back of my mind that I am supposed to someday serve in an extremely emotionally difficult place, like an orphanage in a third world country or helping kids who have been abused.
It terrified me because, when I hear of things like abuse, neglect, torture and hatred, I have such gut wrenching reactions. I feel physically sick to my stomach and have an urge to run away from whatever it is.
Thinking about this documentary has helped to ease both my fear and my reaction to such situations.
In fact, I want to see it.
Before, I couldn’t even bring myself to watch the trailer. Now I have seen it and I want to see the film. Mainly because of this: when I saw a short clip of a little baby not much younger than my own trying his best to crawl but unable to lift his misshapen head off the floor my heart broke and I couldn’t think beyond that moment. Then I realized that little boy is older now, his life has gone on, he deals with it.
It calms my initial flight response when I see that there is more, that life goes beyond that crisis moment of being diagnosed, abused or abandoned. Yes, there is a severe aftermath, trials and effects from these horrendous events. But morning always comes. It may not be a morning free of pain and grief – at least not in this life – but things do go on. Solutions are sought. People cope. And as for those sweet little ones who do not survive the night, they truly wake to a glorious morning with an assured place with our Savior and Father in Heaven, never to be hurt again.

It is these thoughts, these realizations that help me not be so afraid to learn more about people in need… and to not be afraid to help when and where I can.

“The Dropbox” will be in select theaters March 3-5. Kindred Image is an organization started by the creators of the documentary in order to help Pastor Lee’s ministry and their website is a helpful place to learn more.