“Escuela El Calvario” sits on a large hill overlooking two beautiful volcanos in the distance. As you walk through the large black gates at the entrance, you suddenly realize just how different this school is from many of Guatemala’s other schools. Beautiful plants and flowers line the sidewalks and the bright walls are covered in even brighter murals throughout the hallways. You can tell that the kids are excited to have visitors as they tuck their heads out of classrooms and call out to the “Gringos” to come play. This is an almost daily event for us, hearing little voices yell out “Ahi vienen los gringos” followed by an ambush of little legs and arms as children of all ages try to jump on backs or steal hugs from us. Once we make it through the sea of excitement, we set up camp in the lower level of the school. As the children line up for breakfast, their eyes light up as we open the pots filled with frijoles and tortillas. They begin to raise up their bowls and plates in anticipation. You can feel the joy and pure happiness in the room, their faces almost cannot take the stretch of their giant smiles. As we give them their scoop of frijoles and their tortillas we begin to tell them how loved they are, how they have a friend in not only us but God and every time they run away giggling. This processional continues until each child has been fed and laughter fills the room. With only one more class to feed we gear up for another rush. As they run down the hallway with hair in wild strands and plates clattering against forks, I barely notice a little girl standing right in front of me. Her arms are folded at her side and she looks at me and grins. Her face is filled with love and instantly I have to talk to her. I have to tell her how beautiful she is, how much she is loved and how much she means to Her Father God. She has to know all of these things. As I am filled with passion and love for this little girl, she looks me straight in the face and says, “ Tu eres muy hermosa, y tu eres muy inteligente”. (You are very beautiful and very smart). With this she grabs her portion of breakfast for the day and walks off before I even have a chance to respond or process what has just occurred. As I look around at my teammates in bewilderment, I am in awe of what this little girl has spoken over me. Wasn’t I the one who should have spoken over her? She was beautiful and intelligent. The reality though is that I needed to hear those words more than she did in that moment and I needed to hear them from her in that time and that place – and God knew it. In the midst of my passion and excitement for this little girl, God used her to speak truth into my heart. What I was able to give her may have warmed her belly, but what she gave me warmed my heart forever.
If you are interested in supporting my race financially please donate today. Every little bit helps meet my by April 1st deadline, as of today I am still $1500 short. Thank you.
