Just a few days ago I posted a blog about how I want to seek out and find wisdom from places I wouldn’t usually expect. God answered and it was something that I will never forget. Ill start this story in the beginning because that’s where most stories start.
We get out of the taxi as a team and begin to walk towards children’s ministry. I look around and see that what I have experienced so far in Africa has been paradise compared to what I was witnessing. This was a trash dump, filled with chemicals and broken glass. Puddles of water that was green from the bacteria and dirtiness. I wish I took a picture because it was literally green! All over you can see things that were broken and just thrown out but to the people living here that was what they owned.
The places they were living in were just small walls arranged in a square and some of them didn’t even have a roof. As I’m walking I keep looking down because I have to avoid puddle after puddle, heaps of trash, kids running around, and anything else you can imagine. It was like Frogger trying to dodge traffic, but this was piles of waste, bowls on the ground that were toilets, kids pouring water over them for a shower, and these green puddles. Seeing this alone immediately changed my perspective of the world and how truly blessed I am.
After successfully dodging obstacles I walked up to a large green puddle, looking around for the safest way to continue onto the children’s home, I spotted a black rock that would surly be able to help me across this chemical ocean.
I move my right foot first and put my weight down and learn very quickly that this rock is no rock at all, but rather a moldy sponge that was so infested with dirt, feces, mold, that it took the appearance of a rock.
My foot now being fully submerged in this pool of green waste, I begin to panic. I feel like my foot is going to fall off and I begin to think “do I just cut if off!?”
At that moment of debating to cut my foot off I locked eyes with a young girl about 15 yards away. She looks at her water bucket and them looks again at me. I very gingerly walk over to here and this eight year old begins to pour water over my feet. Not only does she pour water on my feet but takes her hand and touches my feet and makes them clean.
She has so little water but saw me step into the mysterious green water, and generously gave what she had. Ill tell you what water is not easy to come by where this village was located, but she still washed my feet without hesitation.
Time stopped and I wasn’t able to focus on anything else but her and her generosity. So little yet so giving, so young yet so Godly. This moment will forever be engraved in my mind. I love how God can teach me more in the span of thirty seconds then I learned in countless hours in the classroom. Gosh I love this adventure so much!
Challenge to myself- Continue to live in the moment and realize what is in front of me. Soak up all the experiences and learning opportunities I can. I pray that what I have see on the World Race so far, buries itself inside my heart and takes root.
