14 June 2014
Imagine living in the same neighborhood, on the same street, in the same house, your whole life. Imagine being X years old having still never ventured outside of your neighborhood- ever. That’s how it is for some of the children living at El Shaddai. They have literally never left this mountain. That means never having been to a grocery store, on the inside of any clothing store full of fresh clothes, and never seeing more than just the familiar faces that live around them. Imagine venturing out of your little neighborhood and seeing a movie on the big screen with popcorn and drink in hand for the first time.
That’s what we gave the kids.
Upon arriving at El Shaddai, some of my squadmates had the brilliant idea of raising a few extra bucks in order to get some of these kids off the mountain to give them a fun day in town! We reached out to many of our faithful supporters through ONE single Facebook status asking for some funds so we could take our buddies into town and we were overwhelmed with the response!
Today, a week later, our buddies put on their finest clothes (usually new clothes given at Christmas but in which they never wear because they don’t want to dirty them) and were SO excited to go to town!! We loaded into 4 caravans and drove the hour and a half to a little shopping center with some clothing stores, post office, grocery store, movie theatre, and restaurant.
After piling out, each child was allotted 20RND ($2) and was allowed to get anything they wanted in the grocery store with their money. It was so fun! I headed in with my buddy, Wendy, where she picked out a chocolate bar, bag of chips, and a bottle of water. Most other kids did the same, picking up some chocolate, candy, chips, or juice. While others picked out a toy or two, or even some fresh new pencils for school.
After snacking a little bit, we all headed to the movies to see Rio 2! The kids were sooooo excited, I tell you. In addition to their little appetizer from the grocery store, they also got a movie meal that included popcorn, a soft drink, and small box of candy.
Because some children had never been to a movie before, they were a little scared and overwhelmed with the loud commercials beforehand. But before we knew it, they were all sitting back, laughing, and enjoying the cute little movie about a Blue bird and his family in the Amazon (we all watched the first Rio the night before so we’d be caught up with the story. Seriously, it is SUCH a cute movie! Go see it 🙂 )
After the movie, we headed next door and treated the kids to a pizza lunch where they each got their own personal pizza. Which, again, some had never had before. But they were just delighted as we all sat around chatting and eating the sweet goodness of the cheesy pizza. In our extra time we walked around to the different stores and looked inside a bit. I kid you not, a few girls were just mesmerized at all the clothes on the rack of the department store, something that is beyond natural to us.
Most of the kids crashed all the way home. I don’t think they’ve had this much excitement in a long, long time. I asked Wendy what her favorite part of the day was. Without looking at me, staring out the window with a longing look she responded, “All of it”.
She fell asleep on my lap with my arms around her. I’m not a big touchy-feely person. But for some reason it comes naturally for me to hold her. It’s the same feeling I have whenever I get to spend time with my nieces and nephew. They are a part of me, as if they are my own. Cuddling up on the couch or just having my arms around them at any time is just easy. She slept and I praised God for such a day as this.
Today was a World Race highlight. An experience I will never forget. The looks on their faces, the fun they had, the love they felt by us through Christ. These things: buying snacks at the grocery store, eating pizza, going to a movie, buying clothes from a department store- these are things we do everyday in America. Things that we said to each other, “Man, I haven’t been to the movies since Malaysia! (December)”. It was exciting for us to get a reminder of what we will return to in less than 2 months.
This to us, is normal. This to them, is Christmas Day.
Thank you to everyone who was able to support this trip but also to all my prayer warriors out there who remember me, my team, and squad in prayer daily!! Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord for His provision, blessings, and love!!!
