Africa - Day Six
And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward. - Matthew 10:42
Grant (the senior youth pastor) arrived today. I'm so grateful for him and feel so comfortable around him, maybe that's because he reminds me of a cross between my dad and the youth pastor I grew up with. The kids called him "Baba" half as a joke because it's the term for grandfather or older respected man. I think he qualifies a bit more for the second.I know the kids were glad to see him, and I know they love him but there was a bit of awkwardness to the arrival. Our group has really bonded well this week and Grant just wasn't here to be a part of it.
We worked hard at the church today. Joey and another man put up a jungle gym, a swing set, and a door for the toilet. Today, David Even helped them put up a basketball goal. The rest of us took the stuff we had brought for the orphanage to Mama Emily's. What a moving experience. To see my babies items clutched by these little kids - all of whom have no parents, some of whom have HIV. Thank you Jesus for all of our blessings and thank you for taking care of these little ones.
Tonight we were able to show the Jesus Film to the older kids. It was frigid and yet almost every child stayed until it was over. They ignored the cold and braved a dangerous walk home in the dark. They sat still for almost two hours to watch a movie that we would ridicule as dated and overly dramatic.
What is wrong with us? Where is our love? Where is our contentment? Where is our greatfulness for the immense blessings we've been given?
I can't help but wonder if the luxuries we've been granted have cost us the intimacy in our relationship with Christ.
Dear Lord, please don't let that be the end of the story for me.
Was the Jesus Film shown at Ext. 23? If so, we had that same kind of night and viewing two years ago. I was amazed at how the kids sat on the cold ground, wind blowing, dark...and how most of them had short sleeves and flip flops on.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to reading these everyday - will miss when you've run out of them!
BTW, where were most of the fleece ear muffs and blankets delivered? Just curious to wonder who is wearing them today!
ReplyDeleteThe Jesus Film was shown at Extension 23 - we were there all week except for the school visits. We were inside the tent so the wind was down a bit and the mass of bodies made it a bit warmer. But we still had kids that stood outside of the tent and never budged for over two hours.
ReplyDeleteWe split up the ear warmers, scarves and blankets. We left some at the large orphanage in Ramada (or something like that) and then a good deal of them went to Mama Emily's orphanage where you see all of the FB pictures and the little boy using the blanket as a cape. You'll definitely be able to follow up on them when you go back.