We got the privilege of going back to Jireh to hang out with the kids, playing volleyball as the darkness fell and we couldn’t see whether we spiking balls or heads (it ended up being a little of both).
Afterwards, we were once again graciously invited inside and given rice flour based bready things that were a mix between a tortilla, a crepe, a pancake and possibly naan. The warm, chewy bread was studded with onions, chives and peppers, a nice little kick in the mouth to balance out the bland taste of the dough. This, we were told, is what the children usually eat.
I realized that night, sitting there, being offered more orange Fanta than I thought I could possibly drink, that part of the reason we were being offered food was cultural. Indians are incredibly generous, the bests hosts you’ll find maybe anywhere in the world. But, more than that, this was a chance for the adults to have some grown up time, and they probably cherished that more than we can even understand.
I remember one summer a few years ago when I worked with kids all day every day, and I came home one day, stood in the driveway with my dad, and had a meltdown. I didn’t know how to talk to people my own age because I was surrounded day in and day out with children, and all I wanted to do was have a real conversation with someone at or even above my intellectual level, even if only for a minute.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE kids- I love working with them, playing with them, laughing with them, being with them. But I am no longer a child, and there comes a time when I do need to connect with people my own age.
I imagine that’s what it feels like to work in a children’s home. You can love the children more than anything on the planet and still need some grown up time, so when a bunch of people who can see more to the day than the boo boo on their knee and the toy their brother stole, it makes sense that every chance should be snatched up to talk with them.
Our ministry is more than we think. Yes, it’s wonderful to play with children whose parents have abandoned them and who have no hope for their lives. But it’s just as important to fill the people watching over them, to encourage the ones responsible for the emotional and spiritual (as well as physical) development of these precious children.
It’s a bigger picture look at something that seems so one dimensional, but I’m glad to have this wider perspective, because now I’m going to be on the lookout for ways to bless the people that are easily forgotten by the blessing train.
