KATE & WITCHEL (little girl Kate and I fell in love with while doing kids ministry in Titanyen, Haiti)
ME & ZADELINA (sweet lil’ pumpkin I met during village ministry in Lévêque, Haiti)
In Creole, the phrase, “Jezi renmen ou” means “Jesus loves you.”
When I was getting training for the World Race, I learned that I had to say “Jesus loves you” to locals (especially kids) rather than “I love you.”
Uhh… but why? That was my first reaction. If I love them, why wouldn’t I tell them?
Then we came to Haiti. The kids here are so hungry for love and attention. They love to be played with. They love to be noticed. They love to be picked up and carried around. And I LOVE doing all of those things. I love hugging them and spinning them around and chasing them. I love being about to show them that matter enough to be played with. It’s so amazing. I receive so much from every kid that I meet. They are all SO FULL of joy and love and laughter and playfulness. I always had a hard time understanding the joy of the Lord and what that meant until I came on the Race; these kids embody that.
But playing only lasts so long. I learn their name, cuddle them for an hour or two, and then it’s time for me to go. Recently I’ve been struggling with the reason behind it all. What’s the point of playing with these kids? Do they even understand why I love them so much? Is is doing ANYTHING for the Lord?
Quite frankly, I don’t have the answer to these questions yet. I don’t fully understand what effect it’s making on these kids. But I do know this: the Lord has called me to come on the Race. He has called me to serve in Haiti. So I will continue to pour out love on these kiddos even if I don’t know if it’s making ANY kind of difference.
Because Christ is in me – and if I’m working at everything FOR the Lord – something must be happening. Even if I can’t see it with my weak human eyes.
I think the hardest part for me to grasp is the goodbyes. Is me coming and loving on them for 2 hours or less hurting them more than it’s helping them? I don’t know. But I now understand why I have to tell them that JESUS loves them, not that I love them. Because after that couple of hours slips away, all of the sudden I have to say goodbye to the kid that’s stolen my heart away. I can’t promise them that I’ll come back; I can’t promise that I’ll see them again. The reality is, I probably won’t. I won’t be able to watch them grow up and see what the Lord is going to do with their life. I won’t know if my life even made an impact on theirs.
All I want to tell them is, “I love you. So, so, so much more than you even know.” How I could love someone that I just met? I don’t know. But I fall in love with them. Every darn time.
Last week, my friend Kate and I were doing kids ministry together, and when the time came for us to go back to Mission of Hope, Kate said something to the kids that reminded me of my purpose. Kate said, “Jezi renmen ou.”
And then it hit me. “Jesus loves you, sweet kid. I love you so, very much. But Jesus loves you more.”
And that holds infinitely more weight than me saying that I love them.
“I was only here for 2 hours, but Jesus is with you forever. I was able hug and cuddle you, but Jesus gave his life for you. Jesus surrendered everything for you. And He loves you so much more than I’ll ever be able to.” Yes, I am able to give them a MINUTE glimpse into how the Lord feels about them. But the only way that they will ever truly feel LOVED is through Jesus and Him alone.
I only get the opportunity to play with kids for 2 hours or less. But they made me realize something so HUGE. If I love the kids that I meet THAT much after just 2 hours, HOW MUCH MORE does my Father adore them and care for them? How much greater is his love for them?
Beyond anything I could even wrap my mind around. He loves them abundantly ABOVE and BEYOND anything I could ever in my life. And he will continue to pursue them. He will continue to beckon to them. He will continue to chase after them. Because he is a good, good Father.
The Lord is perfect. I am not Jesus. I’m not the Savior of this story. I’m not the Savior of these people. Jesus is. And so that is the name that I will proclaim. I will say, “Jesus loves you” to every person that I meet because that holds insanely more value than me saying “I love you.”
-Lyss
