one thing I have throughly enjoyed on the race is being able to hang out with so many kids of different cultures. All the Children are very interested in Americans and are fine with embracing each other with hugs they all smile and contain a joy in which can only be found from the lord. In Haiti a child I had the honor of meeting wa Berlando I found him in a small village he barely spoke any English and could read only a small bit as well he read the words holy bible off the cover of my bible. I was amazed he could read so I quickly filped open my bible and we went word by word sounding it out “j-e-s-u-s Jesus” and after he completed a sentence he would look up grinning ear to ear and I would celebrate him we spent some time walking house to house in the village and he would hold my hand and stay close following and trusting me. Now in Botswana we get to help coach soccer for a group of kids most practice barefoot but are amazing at soccer. I can’t believe how good God is he put me in Botswana and gave me the chance to Coach children it’s an absolute dream come true! The Soccer players and me have really bonded constantly as I arrive at the park I hear someone shouting my name now they aren’t the best at pronouncing my name but it’s fun to hear the call me. As I continue to grow closer something inside really started to spark and really wanted to discover what Jesus said in Matthew 19:14 “But Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.’” How beautiful is this Jesus straight up tells us he wants us to be like children so we can inherit the kingdom of heaven. Most people read this and say they want to be a child at heart and pray Lord let me be like a child in my faith. However do they truly take action to understand what a child is like. I have recently been feeling this conviction so I am looking deeper into what it looks like to be a child in faith. To help me understand I thought back to the children in Haiti the second we stepped of the bus we heard screaming “hey you” over and over the kids smiled when we waved and said high back, some greated us with hugs and want to be lifted up. The kids displayed so much love for us each and every person who got off the bus received the same love. Suddenly it hit me Jesus preaches throughout the Bible to love everyone no matter what and these kids sure do love us they know nothing about us not even our own name yet the trust and love us. I have never heard anyone laugh more than these kids I have met its like from the moment they wake up their goal is to laugh and I want to know where along the line of growing up is joy lost? I wish to have the same endless joy as these kids. Which I can do this by giving all the issues of this earth to the lord choosing and taking action to walk in joy of the lord. Finally who is more hopeful than a child as a kid I was so hopeful and certain i would play in the NFL and be rich clearly this wasn’t truly what was going to happen but to me I thought is was. Being hopeful is certainty a challenge for anyone who has passed their youth but Paul has helped me keep my hope in his letter to the church in thessalonica “As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (?1 Thessalonians? ?1:3? ?NLT??). The key in this is “enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ”. The base of all is Jesus I have anything because of Jesus so if I would like hope I need help from my Lord. Then I’d you have enduring hope that means challenges must arise so your hope can endure. You endure because you have hardships and with Jesus this act of enduring is possible. As a child nothing would break my hopes and if I put my hope in the Lord how could it possible fail it might endure but never fail. I still have so much to learn about being a child at heart and the lord continues to reveal how to do this daily.
Update:
Botswana so far has been pretty amazing we primarily work with kids and lucky for us most everyone speaks English. We spend some days at a local school teaching young children just the other day we were teaching one classroom about art. Other days we go to a very nice park and help coach soccer kids I have bonded a lot with these boys we often call each other troublemakers and play tons of soccer. Saturday mornings I get to go to the boys soccer game it’s amazing a watching these guys play. Tuesday night we have a youth group with the kids if you could pray that the Lord really works through this time that would be greatly appreciated. God has given us so much opportunity here in Gaborone I’m so excited to countinue to work for the Lord.
