So again, I wrote my letters.
For the second time they were all Spanish verses.
New lessons!
1. This time I had a unique verse for each child. I just kept finding verses and writing them out until the Lord said “no mas.”
I ended up with 33 verses. That last day we had 31 kids, I gave 2 to the women who cook for them. Perfect.
2. While I was writing the verses I felt the Lord saying, “These will have impact and be meaningful even if they get ripped up.”
Weird right? I mean, I’m writing these verses as gifts, and the kids are always super excited no matter what we give them.
So, I handed out my verses, the first group of kids left, I said my goodbyes and they just had the hugest smiles on their faces when I handed them their verses.
*That was a blessing in and of itself because that whole month that group of kids was just really quiet and reserved. I ended up finally breaking through with them the last day by simply taking slow-mo videos of them rolling their trucks across the table. You’d have thought I was showing them THE SINGLE COOLEST THING IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE.*
Now, we also had a small number of rubber bracelets with the gospel on them and we had specific kids that we felt we were supposed to give them to. We did it subtly and personally and then went back to the group. But they’re kids. They notice, and some of them were NOT happy that they didn’t get a bracelet.
Kids who initially were SO excited about the verses, the kids who eagerly waited for their slip of paper and joyfully read the scriptures once they received theirs, literally ripped them up, scattered them on the ground and kicked them around. A few even tried to grab other kids’ and rip them up.
As I watched them try to get back at me for something I didn’t do, I watched them try to hurt me, I watched them try to attack something that would normally cut pretty deep, I was overcome with peace. The Lord had warned me, and protected my heart. I watched them and all I felt was compassion. I’ll I could say to them in my broken Spanish was that bracelets are not important, the word of God is what’s important.
While we were leaving that small group of kids continued to tell us that they weren’t going to miss us and who even knows what else they were saying in anger. In that moment I got the opportunity to show them the unconditional love of Christ. I told them that even though they wouldn’t miss me, I’d miss them. Even though they were frustrated, I loved them. And more importantly, no matter what they do, Christ loves them.
God turned a send off that could’ve been really discouraging into another really awesome ministry opportunity. I am confident that their words that day were empty. They will miss us and look back on our time there fondly. The Lord used us in the community and will continue to grow that community long after we’re gone! I also want to make it clear that the vast majority of the kids did NOT react this way. Most of them sent us off with hugs and best wishes! I will miss that ministry more than I realized all month. It was eye-opening and challenging and powerful and awesome.
Dad, Hope you’re having fun in Hawaii- All’s well here (:
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