Countless tiny fingers run through my hair. For hours, little children crowd around me, stroking, petting, braiding, and twisting each available strand on my head while others crawl into my lap, content to just be held.
Another month of working with children and I couldn’t be happier.
This time it’s with the slum children of Singida. They flock to us in the mornings as we make our way to the rugged little church that stands amongst in the slums. Essentially we are here to love the ragged mix of street kids, orphans, and dirty faces that peek from dark doorways and race to us from behind trees, eager for love.
Love comes in different forms. Yesterday it was a hearty meal of rice, beans and veggies to fill their bellies. Other times it’s hours of songs or games of chase throughout clay-brick houses. But most often it’s just a warm embrace. As we sit in the shade we pull them up into our laps, hug them tight and let them run their sticky fingers through our hair.
While we played with them on the first day, Pastor Paulo pointed out various children and shared what he knew about them. Very few go to school. Some had been abandoned. Many lived with a grandparent or relatives because one or both of their parents “had left,” which we eventually realized meant they had died of AIDs. As he shared story after story of neglect, the burden in my heart grew for these gigantic smiles and playful spirits. It’s no wonder the pastor and his wife have devoted their lives to these children.
Two years ago Pastor started an organization called Greater Grace Foundation, much like Compassion, in which individual children are sponsored and their supporters receive update letters. Pastor has big dreams for the children. He wants to help them go to school, and plans on building a children’s home where they can play, eat consistent meals and receive love. Pastor’s heart is gold, his faith real, and his vision big, but he knows very little about computers and the power of the internet. The only five children currently sponsored are a result of previous World Racers who have come through and fallen in love with a child.
As we walked back that first day, we couldn’t stop talking about these children. Was this going to be another month in which we pour our hearts out for four weeks, form relationships, plant seeds and then leave – praying that someone will come and fill the hole we left behind? Or was there something more lasting we could give them?
God was at work and an idea started formulating… World Racers can only do so much to help, but as of now we are Pastor’s only outside resource. He needs widespread support and publication to fulfill his vision for the children. It hit us that we could help provide that. Amanda suggested we create a website where people at home can see the faces that we play with everyday, read their stories and pray about sponsorship. The more we threw around ideas, the more excited we became. The possibility of leaving these children with a future – an education and consistent care – stirred and compelled our hearts.
When we approached the Pastor about it, he couldn’t believe his ears. With tears of joy, he explained that he has been praying for years that someone would come who knew how to create a website for the organization.
So that has become our most recent project – combining our gifts and educations to create a sponsorship website. In the mornings we pull the children aside one by one, take pictures of them, ask them questions, and take the information home to organize and edit. Our goal is to have a website up and running by the end of the month.
Clearly a website won’t do anything in and of itself, but it’s a start. It’s an opportunity for God to do something great- to prove his faithfulness and fulfill the vision that He gave to Pastor. It feels right to work on something that will outlive our time here. Perhaps we will never see the outcome, but one thing I know – God is faithful. It’s clear this was God’s idea all along- His dreams are always bigger than our own. And He never initiates something that He doesn’t complete. He hears the prayers of His beloved, sees their faith, and He never disappoints. What a joy it is to play even a small role in His plan for these children.
