Monsters Inc is a classic right? One of my all time favorite movies, and I can say most of the words along with Mike and Sully. So after one great day, me and my friends decided to watch it. We settled down on the floor of our room, across from a laptop propped up on a backpack. It seemed totally normal, just sitting with friends huddled under blankets eating popcorn. But really everything was different in a way; my friends weren’t from home, the popcorn wasn’t in bags from a microwave, and the blankets were literally all grabbed off of an airplane. The only consistent thing was gonna be the movie, one I’ve known my whole life.
But it turns out when your life changes your perspective changes, and the movie did not feel like something I knew. All I could think about the entire movie was how I was just like James P. Sullivan. Because it turns out Monsters Inc. is pretty much my experience with children’s ministry in Swaziland. I’m sorry if you haven’t seen the movie, because this blog might not make the most sense… I’m also sorry for you, because what have you been doing with your life if you’ve never seen Monsters Inc?
To help everyone I’ll give you a little refresher. You’re welcome. So Mike and Sully get tangled up in a mess at work and end up with a human child *gasp*. Human kids are “toxic” and full of germs so they’re real scared and need to get her back home without being caught. But after spending time with the girl, Boo, Sully loves her. And by the time she does go home it’s heartbreaking to see them leave each other.
So as we were watching, and I saw Sully trying to deal with this dangerous human child it seemed exactly like our first few days of ministry. I knew the kids weren’t “toxic” but I also knew they were covered in germs, weird rice, boogers, and who knows what. We’d sit there kind of uncomfortably as they climbed over us and we’d worry about it. Just like Sully and Boo we couldn’t really communicate. The kids here learn English but a lot of them don’t know much or were embarrassed to try and speak English to us. We were also definitely waiting for the moment they’d go home, like when they were desperately looking to send Boo through a door even if it wasn’t hers.
Then after awhile there’s a scene where Sully is in the locker room playing hide and seek, having the time of his life, and Mike walks in wondering what the heck he’s doing. And why did he name the kid they’re trying to get rid of? It was extremely relatable. I mean so relatable. After a few days we we learned how to communicate so much better. I learned that “ubaniligamolako” means what is your name, and I learned when I asked I needed to really concentrate and lean my ear closer to their mouth to here their quiet whispers. We figured out how to play our own games and we held them without worrying about the sticky hands and such. We learned what their hand motions meant and taught them double double and lemonade! And in a couple weeks it got to the point where all we wanted to do was be with our kids.
Now, with only 6 days of ministry left I think I understand how Sully felt when Mike finished Boo’s door to send her home. It was time for her to go home, and it’s almost time for us to leave, but it’s impossible to not be sad about it. I’ve gotten to know them so well over 2 and a half months and I love some of the kids so much!!! Because of how I feel about them I can’t imagine how parents feel about their own kids, and it’s even harder for me to imagine how God feels about his kids too. All I can do is make the most of the next 6 Days of ministry and 2 weeks in Swaziland. And I can pray that I’ve been able to be as loving to my kids as Sully was to Boo. Here’s to hoping the human world and monster world have been changed for the better.
