Yesterday we had our last day of ministry at Sarah’s Covenant Homes. It was hard to imagine what would be in store for us on this final day of serving alongside this incredible ministry. I haven’t been as attached to a ministry as I had this month, but I had already prepared my heart to leave because I’m only here a short while. These children are so well cared for and loved by the caretakers, long-term volunteers, foster moms, teachers, etc. that as much as I might have made an impact here, they are the ones who really make a huge difference day in and day out.
On our last morning I hurried along down the road I walk twice daily to get to the Courage foster home as I was running behind. I didn’t want to miss a moment especially as we had to cut our morning ministry time short due to needing to be at a squad meeting later in the afternoon that we couldn’t miss. As I walked into the middle floor, I noticed the boys who usually have class weren’t in class today, which meant Katie and I would be able to interact with more of boys. We got out the bubble and blew them across the room as it’s one of the activities all the boys love. What’s really funny is how the ayahs (the local Indian caretakers) would either act sacred of the bubbles possibly popping on them or running around trying to pop them before the boys had a chance. No matter how old you are, there are things that can bring such joy in the simplest of ways.
Afterward I got to hang out with some of the other boys on the floor and bowl with them. One of the boys in particular, if he wasn’t able to knock over all the pins with the ball, would scoot over to the pins and take his hand and knock the pins over. He would smile with satisfactory victory in that all the pins were knocked over. I was able to play with the “baby” of the floor, 3 year old Isaiah*, as I scooped him up in my arms and would twirl him around the mesh curtains that tickled his face; he would laugh and cackle at the sensation. I also got out Playdoh, helped him roll the dough and had him practice grasping at it. He finally succeeded in snatching it in his tight clenched fist, then I had to try and pry it back out.
The last half of the morning I spent time with Elijah,* who on most days is testing and trying my patience like most pre-teen boys are capable of doing. He right away brought me to the swing in the foster mom’s bedroom that we had sat together on in the past and on a day he was sick had actually fallen asleep on me. After grabbing a book and trying to read to him I realized he was not in the mood to sit still for long, but Katie was able to manage and get a few photos of us “reading” together. The rest of the day I wasn’t sure if he’d be able to focus on much of anything as he wouldn’t sit down and had me chase him around until he led me where he wanted to go. We ended up on the roof and we headed up the stairs with a mischievous smile spread across his face. I had brought up the lacing cards that he and I enjoy doing together and he was able to focus for about 10 minutes on them; I count that as a small victory in a hectic day! As it was getting near the end of our time I had Katie grab the camera and take a few photos. Every time Elijah would unexpectedly give me a hug, I never had a camera or someone to take the photo, but on this last day, Katie was able to capture the moment.
As we headed down the stairs, earlier than we really wanted, God blessed us with an amazing moment. On the top floor where I helped in the afternoon, there was a boy in the process of being adopted. His adoptive parents had been here for a few weeks but had had trouble with the Indian government fully releasing him to come back to the US. This had caused delays and strain for these expectant parents. As we headed down the stairs, in front of us were the couple holding their little boy and leaving for good. Tears that streamed down their faces made my heart catch in my throat as I thanked God for allowing us to witness this amazing moment and that He had fulfilled a promise to this child and his parents. I marveled at how great my God is and that if we had not had to leave earlier than usual, we wouldn’t have gotten to witness this miracle. We were able to see firsthand the end goal of Sarah’s Covenant Homes, which is to see children placed with forever families to love and care for them the rest of their lives.
That afternoon we were reunited with our squad and had some sweet time of worship together and reflecting on some of the amazing things God had done in our month. Our two teams at SCH then headed back for our last afternoon of ministry. Four of the girls from the teams had put together a VBS and Courage house was finishing up their last day: water day!! I was able to bring down 5 kids from the top floor and they had so much fun! We sang, danced, listened to the story of Jesus in the boat, played drip, drip, drop and then splashed in kiddy pools to their hearts content. Most of the children ended up going back to their floor dripping from head to toe along with most of the girls from the VBS team and it was glorious. To see these kids laugh and play without a care in the world did theirs and our hearts good. It was the perfect endnote to the last day at a place that will always be in my heart.
