Kids…what an amazing
blessing they are to watch sometimes!
Wednesday Caitlin, Haley, Jackie,
and I had the opportunity to go to the feeding center the CCA Church
started and keeps running daily. It is
place for local people in the poorer areas to bring their kids for meals and
for a little program. Some days there
are 40 kids and others a 130…it just kind of depends on the day. Some of the kids come from drug addicted
parents and others are just poor. They
each have a different story to tell. The
church has a couple people who help out regularly and many of the mothers have
started to help play with the kids, prepare food, and do dishes as well. At the center the kids are encouraged and hear
about God’s love and see it.
When we arrived, the
children were playing soccer, jumping-rope, playing a marble game, making
puzzles, drawing with chalk, and much more!
They were spread out doing all different activities as well as getting
in line for their vitamins. Jackie
helped hand out vitamins as another lady wrote each of their names down to keep
record of who had been there. We jumped
in by kicking the soccer ball with them, jumping rope, helping with the puzzle
and just having fun with them. Haley,
being the brave soul she is, started giving piggy-back rides for some of the
kids, which they absolutely loved. The
language barrier made me a bit sad at times especially when one little boy who
was trying to express something ‘very important’ to me and was frustrated that
I couldn’t understand.
At one point, I sat down on
a bench next to a beautiful little girl with straight brown hair and a tooth
missing. She seemed to be shy right at
first and even a little sad, but I kept asking simple questions I knew in
Spanish and sometimes she would answer and sometimes she wouldn’t. I asked what her name was, if she liked to
play, and what she liked to do. She said
her name was Annette and that she did like playing. I asked her how to say frog in Spanish because
she had a little stuffed one with her. I
told her she was ‘muy bonita’ which means very pretty. She looked me right in the eye and gave me a
huge smile. Then she started talking to
me in Spanish real fast and I tried to catch as much as I could. I showed her my camera and she had a blast
taking pictures with it (she’s a natural!).
Eventually one of her best friends came over and said hi and started
talking too. She brought energy to the
group and was fun to meet as well.
As soon as they announced
lunch was ready, Annette grabbed my hand and pulled me to the table for her age
range. Her best friend put her hand out
for me to grab so that all three of us could sit together. It made me so happy to see her open up so
quickly and want me to be a part of what she was doing. I sat in between them as we ate spaghetti, a
banana, and juice. It was obvious that
Annette does not like bananas and offered hers to someone else. One of the ladies that works at the church
who speaks English stops in at the center several days a week just for a short
time and sat down to talk to me for a little while. She was the one who explained who helps out
and how it got started. They are working
on raising money to build a bigger center that will help incorporate more for
the families as a whole. Their vision is
huge and expensive but she said they are trusting God to provide every penny in
His time and when the time is ready to build, they will have the resources they
need.
After lunch, I went to the
sinks and in my best broken Spanish asked if I could help with dishes. I got to talk briefly with the ladies who
were doing dishes. Most of them seemed
to have so much joy and to serve with a willing heart. It was encouraging to me and a reminder as
well. A lot of times I do the task that
I’m supposed to out of obligation or because it’s my duty or I’m on the list,
but how often do I serve even when I’m not asked to, even when I’m not assigned
a job, when I’m not obligated? That’s
one thing God is still pressing on me…to serve, serve, serve. What did Jesus do when HE was on the earth,
He first and foremost spent time with His father and then the rest of the time
He spent serving others meeting them right where they were at.
“…I love the Father and I do exactly what my Father
has commanded me.”
~John
14:31b
*Our next step: Tomorrow morning we leave on a 16 hour bus
ride to Panama City
where we will spend the next three nights as a squad. We’re working out details for the time after
that.
*Click here and here to see
a couple of the birthday celebrations we’ve had these past few weeks.
