A pen, some paper and a dollop of lip gloss was all
it took to endear myself to two precious boys in church a few days ago.
I had been praying
for God to put some children in my path-I love kids and especially enjoy loving
on them-hugs, smiles, laughter, taking their pictures, etc.
met us outside of church on Monday. They had great smiles (as most Africans do)
and flashed their pearly whites frequently.
(The two in front are Hal and Max)
When we walked
inside, they plopped down next to me. The two of them shared one plastic lawn
chair. I don’t know a lot of Swahili…basically, I can say, Hello, How are you?,
good bye, and Jesus is love.
I latched onto
that last one. Yesu ni upendo!
writing in my journal, and asked for some paper. I tore them out a piece each
and handed over my pen. They drew pictures, and asked me to write on it. That
day, I wrote scripture and truth in English, hoping that whoever they took the
sheet home to would read it.
my lip gloss, and held out their fingers. So I squeezed a dollop on each, and
they proceeded to smear it all over the lips as well as their cheeks. They then
ate the left-overs. (I mean, it was
the good stuff-Spearmint C.O. Bigelow from Bath and Body Works…).
(<–our church this month)
Soon enough, the
service was over and we walked down the hill, back to our van. The boys, named
Halliday and Maxim, escorted me down. When I tripped, one chided me, “Pole pole�
(slow, slow). It was precious. I told them, “Tuanani keysho� (see you tomorrow)
and climbed into the van.
(the view from church)
The next day, they
were waiting for me as soon as I got off the van. They grabbed my hands and
walked up the hill to church with me. We walked into church and settled into
the same routine as the day before. This day, however, there were Swahili
bibles. So cross-referencing with my own, I wrote them notes in Swahili,
declaring truth over them-Jeremiah 29:11, Psalms 139, and Yesu ni upendo, amani
na tumaini. (Jesus is love, peace and
hope.)
I don’t speak a
lot of Swahili, but God opened the door to speak truth over these young boys,
to pray for them, and to love on them, if only for a few days. He answered my
prayer to have the opportunity to love on kids, and I was able to be a vessel
of his love and truth.
Through a pen,
some paper and lip gloss, I made friends. Through the Word, God planted seeds
to make disciples.
Please pray for Halliday and Maxim. I don’t
know their family situations or much about them, other than their names and the
fact they have amazing smiles. Pray for truth to saturate their lives and for
their salvation.
