The had never been to a restaurant and didn’t know what a restaurant was, and had never even seen a toilet before. Of course, our kids were ecstatic and loved every moment and every new thing – except maybe the ice. Believe it or not, it was just too cold for them.
Pizza Hut had a little play area with a couple of plastic playschool toys – a slide, a car and a teeter-totter. What a thrill! You would have thought these kids were at Disneyland. They were having more fun for free on these few little toys than most American kids have at a park with a $35 dollar admission fee.
There were other kids playing with “ours” on the toys, but minus new clothes, slick hair and the name tags our kids were wearing, you wouldn’t know the difference in the kids. They all just wanted to play and have fun.
A couple of the local parents found out that our kids were from the orphanage and you watched them tense up and keep an eagles eye on their kids wanting to leave, but not wanting to make a scene trying to pull their kids away. The cast system is very clear. Luckily, we had a great day and none of the kids saw it, and because they go out so infrequently, they don’t even know it exsists.
Please pray that this generation will be seen as the beautiful, unique individuals that they are and not clumped together with everyone else … and pray that God will find other ways to continue to bless these beautiful children of India.
