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Ministry here at El Shaddai happens in one of four ways. We either work at A. the preschool B. the baby house C. scraping paint off walls D. working in the garden (i.e. the corn field) . I have loved having the different options for ministry, & from the beginning, our team leaders (Emily & Paul) set up a schedule for us each week for these four things. For the most part, I've been set up with the preschool & baby house.
On one particular day, Desirae, Mary, & I planned on helping the preschool, where we would help teach lessons, read Bible stories, sing songs, etc. However, upon arriving, the teacher decided to take the day off, & wanted us to lead the entire time. Great! No translator, just a bunch of little munchkins running around, with no real way to communicate with them. The first thing we noticed (especially at the preschool) was how they hit each other, said mean words to each other, kicked each other, whipped out belts on each other, etc. They were typical children in my book, but we could not control them at all with the language barrier. For the most part, the little children here speak Saswati, which is extremely hard to learn (also known as the language used in the Lion King!). Also, simple gestures that other children had picked up on in Mozambique easily, these Swaziland children did not react to. Anytime we would put up the SHH finger, no one would pay attention, & any time we raised our voices to try to get everyone to settle down, no one understood what we were saying. To keep it short, the day was becoming one of the most frustrating days I had on the race so far. I wanted to love on these children, play games with them, sing songs, & read them stories. Why was it so difficult to communicate with them?
We finally tried to sit down with a couple of them, & I noticed the Lord telling me, "Sarah, I didn't bring you here to witness to aaallll of the children. Concentrate on the ones that see my love." I said, Ok God! The more my mind became at peace with that, the more I noticed a couple of children begin to surround me, probably between 6 to 8. I started counting numbers with them, & singing various songs like "Jesus Loves You".
We had planned a lesson for the children, where we were going to invite the children up to the chalkboard, trace their hand on a tree I had drawn out, & talk about how we are the body of Christ, that we needed to work together, & that we were placed on this earth to have friends, not to be by ourselves. That plan fell through real quick! But when I noticed the couple of children that were around me, I decided to give it a shot & just try to trace their itty bitty hands on the tree.
At first, they were so open to it! They loved it. It was like Christmas morning, or opening a jar of cookies they had never tried before. I was showing them their identity by tracing a handprint to show they were real, while also giving them attention (which is what most of them lacked at home). The more children that did it, the more it caught onto the other children. Before I knew it, almost 25 kids were waving their hands up in the air, asking me to trace theirs! It was surreal.
As the tree began to fill up, one of the teachers finally came back & led the children outside where Des began to lead a game. However, as we were walking out, I noticed one little girl stayed behind staring at the tree. She seemed a bit older than the rest of the children in height, & I noticed she didn't talk much. As I glanced at her, I remember from a previous day one of the teachers talking about a young girl who had been in preschool for a long time, she was around 7 or 8 & still could not do simple counting. As I turned & glanced at her, my heart dropped. That was the precious girl with learning disabilities who I wanted to get to know! Perfect, thank you Lord. We were basically in the chapel by ourselves at this point, with some other children still running around, but I had her undivided attention. The second I looked at her, I reached for her arms, attempting to move them so that I could teach her how to trace her hand on the board. However, she misread it as a hug, & came in for the tightest hug I've ever gotten from a child in my life. She yearned for touch. She yearned to be loved. It all clicked! This was why I was stationed at the preschool today!
After the long & sweet hug, I pulled her back & attempted to show her how to trace her hand. After I had traced my hand a good 4 or 5 times, she ever so gently placed her chalk on the board, & began attempting with all her might. After a few chances, she started to get the hang of it. Every now & then, she would grab my hand, place it on the board, & attempt to trace mine as well. It was such an amazing experience, because just after a couple minutes trying to teach her, it felt like we were in our own little world. All of the frustrations from the children before had left my thoughts, & all I could concentrate on was the peace this little girl was bringing me.
The teacher began yelling it was time to leave, so she backed away, examining the progress she made in tracing her hand. It was almost like she was a master painter, examining her work for flaws. She handed me the chalk, turned briskly, & began to quietly walk towards the door. As she was leaving, I could not stop watching her. How could this one little girl change the whole entire day around for me? She was like a little angel. The farther she walked away, the more intently I glanced at her, until she turned around & gave me the biggest smile I've ever seen on a child's face (it was so picturesque I thought I was in a movie!)
Man the enemy can be one rotten little punk, but who knew the frustrations he was trying to give me could be gone in a flash. He will always lose, no matter what! Anytime you are having a down day, look for that little angel that will be in your life. You are constantly surrounded by them! God is too good to want you to have a frustrating day at work, a long day at school, a car wreck, tons of bills to pay, no job to support your family. He wants nothing but goodness for your life!
Jesus says in Mark 11:23, "Truly I say to you, whoever says this mountain, Be taken up & thrown into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your father also who is in Heaven may forgive you your trespasses."
Believe the power of prayer! We can move mountains if we only have faith =)
