Kneeling at the foot of a cross, crying, exhausted, completely covered in mud.
But not alone. I don’t just mean my squad mates and the conference participants who had just traipsed through the jungle, often on their knees, next to me. I mean the kids. The ones that my heart saw, even when my eyes could not.
We were circling the giant ceiba tree in the dark of the early morning when I first noticed them. It was the first ‘station’ of our prayer boot camp for the children of Central America, and we were prayer walking just like the Israelites circling Jericho. As I was intermittently praying and listening to the prayers of the others, I started to imagine all the kids whose lives had been cut short by the dangers of growing up in Central America and then I could see them, right there, walking with us, also interceding for children fighting daily for their lives. I reached down my hand, opened it so I could hold one of their hands, and kept praying.
All throughout the morning they stayed with us, laughing as they jogged among us from station to station, encouraging us as we took turns carrying each other on an uphill stretch of the jungle trail, crawling next to us as we army crawled through the dew-laden grass and mud. Mostly though I remember their closed eyes and bowed heads, praying – crying out to a God they loved to be near to his other children, too. I was honored to be with them and convicted to be the hands and feet to carry out those prayers.
So many children in Central America and throughout the whole world face terrible realities every morning when they open their eyes. Realities with little love and even less hope. Their innocence is stripped away and if they survive, they are often drawn into the very systems that stripped it from them. This cycle threatens to immobilize those who have the ability to change it, prompting questions like, “What can I do? What difference can I make?” Don’t let Satan speak lies to you. God is always pursuing his people, especially his children, and you were created to be a part of that.
Our host organization last month in Guatemala, Hearts in Action, is devoted to two things: first, speaking God’s love to children (a child’s heart is already so primed to receive the joy and hope of our Savior) and second, empowering local leaders to do the same. At this year’s annual conference, La Gran Comision, I was absolutely humbled by the 50 men and women from both Guatemala and other neighboring countries who were there to soak up all they could about how they too could pursue the children in their own communities. Each possessed a confidence that God was moving, and they didn’t want to miss out. They wanted to run His race with joy, grabbing as many hands of children along they way as they could. But most importantly, they knew that prayer was their first step.
I want that zeal for the kingdom and the joy that comes from absolute certainty that I am in His will. And so I pray. But not alone. Next to me, with bowed heads and adoring hearts, are children, scores of children.
“Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” ~Mark 10:14
