The Ones That Pull The Strings!
Ah the little ones. Children have always had a way to my heart. My first Saturday in Colombia I got the opportunity to go to the Manantialas children’s ministry. This was located further up the mountain. For those who know me, I tend to sometimes get car sickness. Let me tell ya Colombia’s mountains have made me a little nauseous at times. So anyone that get’s car sickness make sure to take something before heading up the mountains. But man was it worth it!
So we headed up this mountain that felt like it was taking forever, probably because I was starting to not feel good. But we got to a point up the mountain where we stopped and were able to get out of the van and go get the kids from their houses if we wanted. Well, I was already looking forward to going door to door with a couple of the ladies but it definitely wasn’t what I expected. We began walking or climbing may be a better term. We weaved in between houses and knocked on the doors of the kids’ houses to pick them up for the ministry. Some of the houses were better off than others but no where near something we would see in the states. There were little shops mixed in with the houses, just like some other small communities. The streets were just mud and there was trash pretty much wherever. But out of all of this, the people still seemed happy or at least content. No it’s not your everyday in America lifestyle and yes it is sad, but this is their home.
Most of the kids weren’t able to come with us on Saturday because of some protesting that was going on that had made the kids miss school earlier in the year so they had to make it up on Saturday. We did get to pick some of the kids up and it was so awesome seeing how excited they were to go with us to the ministry. Once we picked them all up we headed back down the mountain a little bit where the van picked us all up and took us to the campus where they host the ministry in Manantiales. The area is gated so we don’t have to worry about anyone bothering us. Once we were there we unloaded and the kids had a little time to play before we began. While some of them went and played games we did some face paintings for some of the other kids. Then we went and did some worship with them, which had some awesome dance moves to go along with. The joy in these kids eyes would pull on your heart strings even if you didn’t like kids. There’s always those couple you tend to connect with just a little more. I had a couple little girls I connected with on the way up to the campus who I danced with until we went to our classes.
I was in the two to five year old classroom with Alejandra and Lilly. In our class we had five girls and five boys. One of the little boys, Steven, came for the first time. He was really doing good at the beginning when we were playing and dancing. However when we went to class he was just not a happy camper. His older sister was in the same class and stayed by him most of the time but he had an even older sister that went in with a different age group. He wouldn’t stop crying no matter what anyone would do. Alejandra suggested we just let him cry it out. We waited for a little bit but then I took a coloring sheet and crayons over to him and showed him how to color it and he immediately stopped crying and started watching me. It just touched my heart and I was just so happy at the moment to have been able to make him smile. So after we colored, we did some face paintings on the kids. We painted their faces and then they decided to show us their amazing artwork on us as well, pictures below. We had so much fun playing with them. One little girl sat in my lap the whole time we were in class. Its the little things that really touch your heart.
After class we got the kids their little bags of donated clothes we put together for each of them depending on their age. Its amazing how excited the kids from two to fourteen are to get a bag with a simple donated outfit in it. Half of the kids were putting their clothes on over their clothes before we even left. I can say when I was their age I don’t feel like I was that excited to get a new used outfit. It truly puts things in to perspective to what we really have and take such advantage of. We then ate some lunch and played with the kids a little more before they had to leave. When we left the little kids went in the van and we walked the older ones down to where the van picked them up. There was this young girl, about eleven years old who I got to hangout with at the beginning during worship. She was super shy but so extremely sweet. With me not knowing much Spanish our conversation was limited. But that didn’t matter, she was happy with the fact I acknowledged and loved on her. She walked down with me and we talked the little that we could. I put my arm around her while we were walking and she just reached up and held my hand the whole time we walked. These kids are so content with just having someone who shows them love. Being with them made my heart so happy. I’m looking forward to spending more time with them this month and just pouring love into their life. Even though we came to pour into them, they are truly impacting us just as much. With their acceptance and love for us.
