China
While we were in
China, Eagles Wings brought in a couple experts from another part of
China to help teach the Ayies (aunties or caretakers) to better care
for the special needs kids. They were experts in physical therapy
and special education, in short exactly the kind of people that could
dramatically improve the lives of some of the kids in the orphanage.
The problem was
that in order to teach the Ayies, someone would have to watch the
kids. That’s where we came in. We were charged with caring for the
kids for only a few hours a day for a total of three days. The most
severely disabled kids are in Eagles Wings 4. I had never before
worked with kids with the kinds of physical and mental disabilities
like these kids were suffering from.
At first, their
ailments were overwhelming to the point that I could only spend a few
hours feeding and caring for them before I would just feel too sad
and powerless and I would have to focus my mind elsewhere for a
while.
During the first
afternoon, it warmed up enough for the kids to go outside to play on
the playground. Because almost all of them are unable to walk or
have a tendency to wonder off if left unattended, we had to give one
on one attention to every kid we brought outside. At first I wasn’t
really into it, but after seeing a few of the kids going down slides
on racers’ laps and the smiles on the kid’s faces, I realized the
opportunity I was being presented with.
I started taking
them down slides, swinging them around, and running them around the
playground in their chairs. Deep inside despite any ailments they had
they were still kids and they still loved to play and loved to be
outside. It was still tough on me to have to struggle for an hour to
feed one 12 year old boy that could barely open his mouth, but after
thinking about how important he is and how much he is loved by God I
really was thankful for the opportunity to meet and love these kids.
After the few days
I spent doing my best to love the kids with my whole heart I really
have a new respect and admiration for the people that can continue to
pour out love on kids day in and day out. I am also thankful for the
people that have given up their lives and their comforts to give the
kids the best possible lives they can. After hearing stories about
how some disabled kids in China are cared for I am so thankful that
all I saw was kids that had people committed to love them.
Thailand
Last Wednesday, we
got to ride elephants and pet tigers. It was amazing to get to be
that close to animals that I had only seen at the zoo or on TV. It
is something that I won’t soon forget.
Since then we have
spent most of our days waking up before 7 and either planting tapioca
in the fields or shoveling goat poop into bags and spreading it in
the fields. Some days it is pretty monotonous and the relentless
heat makes it tough to continue, but the conversations are great. We
get to talk about life, future plans, past experiences, and what God
wants for us in our lives.
Sometimes I want
to grumble and complain, but the irony is that the verse that says
don’t grumble or complain was the one I picked to live by this
month before we even got to Thailand. Instead, I am focused on doing
whatever I do like I am doing it for the Lord. It has been a really
humbling experience in the fields, but I am so thankful because I
defiantly need more humbleness in my life.
One really cool
thing we got to experience was the athletic festival last Saturday.
We were told that we would go to watch Pang, our contact, play
volleyball with the girls she was coaching.
We got a bit lost
on our way and missed the first game they played. Luckily, they won
and would be playing for the championship in a couple of hours. We
got to enjoy some amazing free rice and noodles and then visited with
some of the locals when we were asked to play in a soccer game
against a Thai team.
I can count on one
hand the number of times I played soccer growing up so I was content
to sit it out and let the guys that knew what they were doing play.
Turns out they needed one more or we wouldn’t have had enough for a
team so I got the call to get up from my seat in the shade and come
play.
Out of the 21
guys here, only 2 or 3 are really experienced players and the Thai
team has been playing together for some time. That and the fact that
it was about million degrees outside and we were expecting to get
smoked. The match was without a doubt the most official soccer game
of my career, there was a referee crew an play by play announcer and
we even got introduced at the start of it.
The team we were
playing was in fact much better than us, but thanks to a little luck
and some amazing goalkeeping, it was scoreless going into the half.
It came at a good time as I was getting pretty hot and tired out in
the beating sun. They gave us some Thai Gatorade thing to drink and
some cold water. The Gatorade was like a super sweet syrup loaded
with all sorts of sugar, but it was just what I needed to continue
into the second half.
We got a
fast-break goal with about 10 minutes to go to take the lead. The
Thais, realizing that they could loose the game really stepped it up.
Their pressure was relentless and they finally tied it up with only
a few minutes to go. It was a little sad for the game to end in a
tie, but I think it was a good outcome for a friendly game.
Afterwords we got to watch Pang’s team win the volleyball
competition. It was amazing that we go to attend because we later
found out that that was a once in a year festivity.
