“Mzungu!! Mzunguuuu!!!! How are you? How are you?”
I wave and smile then the small children do one of three things:
- Run away crying
- Giggle, wave back, then run away
- Stare with a blank face like I am the scariest thing they have ever seen
Typical.
The children that run around in the streets here are so cute. They are not to be confused with street kids, we encounter them too. These kids are children that have families but just like to hang out with their friends outside of their compound and play in the streets. Neighborhoods of kids just hang out outside all the time. When we go past them we hear the little English that they know which consists of “How are you?” and “I’m fine” that is all they say no matter your response.
One day Chase and I were out doing door to door evangelism with two of our contacts John and Ernest. I really didn’t want to be there. I was having a hard time choosing joy that day. Chase and I were the only two of the six of us who went to ministry that day. Sometimes it is really hard to me to do door to door evangelism. I often wonder if people are accepting Jesus because we are white and the words we say are held so highly because of that fact, or if the Spirit is truly moving in their heart. I struggle with that.
So anyways this particular day of ministry instead of taking the lead in our evangelism I let Chase take the lead and I just kind of stood back. I thought that I would probably just be praying the whole time and covering our time with the people we encountered, but instead of letting me kind of escape and take the “easy way out” God continued to bring little children to play with me. I probably played with close to 40 kids under the age of 5 by the time we went back to the church for lunch. I played and kept the children entertained while Chase and our contacts talked to the parents. They parents were not distracted and the kids were having fun playing “run away from the Mzungu.”
I had so much fun that day. It was almost like playing the game “What Time is it Mr. Fox?” I would face my back to them, then they would giggle and come up behind me. Then I would turn around and see if I could catch them, they would run away screaming. It was fun, especially when a couple of the boys were brave enough to get close enough to let me catch them. Then we would move on to the next compound and I would play with the children there. At one point we prayed over this one compound with all the children there and I had my arms touching at least 5 children. It was like God knew all I needed was a good dose of some preschool fun and it didn’t matter whether I was playing in a street in the middle of nowhere Kenya or if I was at the Rec Center helping my mom. I was reminded that not only was that ministry, but that Jesus said,
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” [Mark 10:14]
If I am the only person that shows them the love of Christ in that way, then I am honored to have been able to do such a ministry. Playing in the street with the children ended up being one of my favorite ministries this month. It keeps things in perspective.
Find the faith of some children this week and let their love and faith be an example in your life that you can learn from.
Much love,
-A
