“My card is messed up.”
“I have to use the toilet.”
“I gave that guy my loom band, but I need it back.”
“I spilt my drink.”
“I’m done with my drink.”
“I can’t find my sister.”
This month for ministry most of our squad (including my team) is working at Causeway Coast Vinyard Church in Coleraine, Ireland. This particular week, we are helping them operate “Destiny’s Island,” a version of VBS (Vacation Bible School), for kids in elementary school. Some of the quotes listed above are just a few of the comments directed towards me by the children on the first day.
Talk about damage control. I guess I’d forgotten or didn’t realize how much little kids rely on adults for help. I was constantly solving problems… or at least trying to.
There were approximately 35 kids in my group, with about 6 of us looking after them.
I found it fairly difficult to really connect with the children, probably due to different reasons. 1. The damage control thing. 2. The amount of kids. 3. They seemed to think I was weird or something (I definitely can’t blame them for that one.)
However, I did notice one girl who seemed to crave my attention and acknowledgment at times. She’d grab my hand, or just try to talk to me some when I was around. The boy and girl she seemed to be good friends with also spoke to me some.
As the day’s events were winding down, we had the children sit underneath their group tents to wait for their parents to pick them up. I decided to sit down with the kids and just happened to land next to the little girl (whose name I found out was Katie) and her “friends.”
Since I had noticed before that they were hanging out a lot, I asked them if they all had the same mom and dad. Katie explained that the boy was her brother, but that the other girl was her cousin. Then she just came right out and said, “Could you please not say ‘Dad’ though? We don’t like our dad. He is bad and cuckoo.” The boy agreed.
In the same conversation I learned that Katie’s birthday was February 28th, but that she celebrated on March 1st because of her dad having the same birthday. She ‘didn’t like to celebrate the same day as her dad.’
I was able to share with them how God is their Heavenly Dad and how he loves them so much. I told them that He’s always there for them. The boy exclaimed, “God is everybody’s Daddy!” It made me chuckle inside. “Yes He is,” I agreed.
By this time, most of the children had already left with their families. Dave, the children’s pastor, asked over the microphone if anybody was still waiting on their mom and dad to come. Three little hands went up beside me (along with a few other leaders to make us known). Katie was trying to guide my hand to the raised position as well in the process.
Then she said something that was both precious and haunting. “This is my new daddy!”
I didn’t even know what to say. All that came to mind in my head was, “Oh boy.” It definitely took me by surprise, so I just stayed silent.
Shortly after, her mom showed up and took the 3 away.
Obviously, if she starts to call me Dad again, I’ll have to explain that I’m just a friend. But what an amazing opportunity that I have this week to love on Katie and all the other kids and point them towards the ultimate Father of Love!
It’s moments like these that keep me pressing forward. Broken homes, broken hearts, broken promises. These are things God delights in restoring and/or healing! And He’s put me in the position to speak life into these young ones.
Can’t say I’m always stoked about looking after tons of kids, but I push on because of kids like Katie and the boy, who deserve more. They deserve what Jesus has to offer.
In other news… my new teammate Melissa (who is awesome… just in case you were wondering) is still in need of about $3000 to stay on the Race! It’s really crucial right now, because the deadline has actually already passed! So please consider donating to help her finish. The link to her blog page should be up on my blog page soon (we just changed teams).
