When I met Jozeph Capps three years ago, I didn’t know his story.
I had stalked his mama following a mama-and-me music class where I discovered that she, also, had a passion for Chinese superheroes whose “special needs” were just superpowers in disguise ... and was this beautiful mama to several of them.
Leia and I became fast friends, and as I fell in love with her heart, I got the honor of being exposed to the hearts of her (then five-going-on-six) children.
From the first time I met him, I could see that Jozeph’s was made of gold.
This precious young boy who goes by “Zeph” introduced himself to me with a smile and a hug, and within minutes of sitting down with me, shared that he wanted to be a priest when he grew up. His favorite hobby was praying, and his favorite subject at his private school was mass.
For Christmas, he asked for his own priest robe. And combing his hair, he once told me, was just a distraction from God.
I had never met such a young child so passionate and serious about God, and as I grew to know and love Zeph, I assumed that this boy so on fire for Jesus must have lived a fairly blessed and easy life before he came into his parents’ home.
How else would such a young child understand and experience so clearly the goodness of God?
Until Leia shared with me his story.
This boy with the big love nearly died twice.
Before the age 4, he was abandoned, went to an orphanage, moved to a foster family, and then, when he fell off a motorcycle, fell into a coma and the family wouldn’t take him back because of his increased needs, returned to the orphanage.
His brain injuries, multiple major medical diagnoses and developmental delays, along with his non-infant status, made him a favorite of advocates … and a CHILD of no one.
Without a family to race to China and make this boy with what a file said would be a dim future their own, this angel whose survival through tragedy after tragedy can only be considered miraculous, would return to an orphanage and, without intensive one-on-one care, possibly die.
And even though Leia and her husband were only two months home from China with another superhero at the time, and even though this boy's needs were great, they heard Zeph’s story, saw his eyes and turned to the God who makes all things new.
And then, friends, they raced to him.
Knowing his value.
Understanding his worth.
Seeing what God could see when He looked at this innocent child with the broken body and the bruised up brain.
BEAUTY.
Possibility.
An amazing testimony just waiting to happen.
Zeph became a Capps five years ago. And today, Orphan Warriors, he has defied every odd. Conquered every giant. Completely overcome.
Though on paper, this boy who has been through more in a decade than I’ve endured my entire 35 years of life should be a despondent, dysfunctional mess — one who shouldn't physically be able to walk or carry on intellectual conversation or read — the Zeph who greets me at the door today is anything but.
He’s SMART.
He’s DELIGHTFUL.
He’s DEDICATED.
He’s COMPASSIONATE.
But more than that, he’s just BURSTING with love.
For God.
For others.
For his family.
For his community.
And he now uses HIS superpower of prayer to bring the love that God showed him in his darkest, most painful days to a hurting world that desperately needs HOPE.
Orphan Warriors, THIS is the picture of the Gospel!
THIS is the God who makes all things new.
THIS is the picture of the God who exchanges beauty for ashes and brings dead things back to life!
Zeph Capps wasn’t just on the brink of death; he stared it in the face two different times!
After all he’s been through, his brain should be broken. His functionality should be zero. His “success” by the world’s standards should be non-existent.
But the same God who resurrected a crucified Savior resurrected little Zeph.
Brought a dead boy back to life, brought a story that could have died in an orphanage in China to a thriving new beginning inside a family in the United States.
God resurrected his HOPE!
God resurrected his LIFE!
God resurrected a HEART that was so cold and hard and protective after all the heartbreak and physical pain it had endured that it took months before the love of parents could even break in.
Want to see the pure, unfiltered, unadulterated heart of Christ this Easter week?
Want to see a glimpse of REAL resurrection power, the kind that brings the DEAD THINGS of this world back to life?
Meet Zeph Capps, cherished son, beloved child and today, winner of his county’s Young Authors award.
The Superpower of Prayer, by Jozeph Capps
My super power is praying. Let me tell you my story.
I came from China five years ago. My parents adopted me from an orphanage. I was born too early, I had a stroke, I fell off of a motorcycle and I was in a coma. When I left the hospital, I was weak and needed a family. I think I must have been praying or someone must have been praying for me to survive all these crazy things.
When Mom and my grandma came to China to get me, I was pretty naughty. I stuck the door key to the hotel room in my grandma’s computer. Then I ran to the elevator and pushed random buttons and my grandma and my mom could not find me in the hotel. I did a lot of other things, too, because I think I was nervous. I think I must have prayed to not be scared about going to America and meeting my new family.
When I got to the United States, I could not speak English, but I felt safe. My parents taught me about God, and I got to be baptized. They told me Jesus was in my heart and, because I was still learning English, I was a little confused about Jesus being in my heart. I thought there was a little man living in my heart.
Now I know that Jesus is not a little man living in my heart. He is my Savior. He has been with me through all of the crazy stuff and He gives me joy. I want to become a priest and serve Jesus because he has helped me survive. If I were a priest, I could use my praying superpower as my job and make other people happy, too.