El Shaddai was going to be just another orphanage for me. I thought that we would play with some kids, teach them some songs, push them on swings and rock them to sleep. Well we did all of those things, but this time it was different…
We rotated what we did each day and my favorite day ended up being at the Baby House. This isn’t what it seems though. The majority of the kids there were between 1 and 3, so toddlers not babies. But I loved these little kids anyways. One little boy in particular became my buddy. Joseph and I became best friends because the first time we met he immediately took me into the house to meet the kittens they have! A child after my own heart! He was well behaved, not too dirty, loved cats, could communicate with me, and had the CUTEST laugh, so we naturally became best buds.
Another one of the boys that I fell in love with was Nicholas. He was in preschool and super sweet. He too was well behaved, not dirty at all, could speak some English, and loved to cuddle….hello, best friend number 2! Anytime he saw me he would come running full speed at me and jump into my arms. Our first meeting was on the playground. He was sitting by himself on the big playhouse, so I climbed up to sit with him. He was really shy at first, but then we started making funny faces at each other and his laugh was hysterical so I had to keep making a fool of myself to make this little boy keep laughing!
After Joseph and Nickolas and I got to be great friends they wanted me to start taking them on walks to the school and back. It wasn’t very far and all of the kids loved getting out of the fenced in yard that they were always in. Usually Joseph was on my shoulders and I was holding Nickolas’ hand. As we were walking one day the boys started telling me all of the farm animals they knew in English. They were so excited to share all that they knew; they were even competing at one point for who could tell me the most cows and goats. And then I just started laughing with them because to them this was the most exciting thing that was going on in their life, sharing the English that they knew. And they wanted to share it with someone that was really important to them, me.
It seems silly, but it felt really great that I was the person that these two little boys wanted to tell their most important things to. I had become to these two little guys someone they could trust, have fun with, and learn from. I could do these things at home, but I wasn’t. Nickolas and Joseph are the reason that I left a great life of friends, family, comfort foods, hot showers, and a closet to share about Christ, to be Christ to the people around me. They made all of those great things, just things to me.
