A picture is worth 1,000 words. A picture holds more than an image. It holds memories and feelings. A picture is a moment. But what about the seconds before and after the picture? Instead of pictures this month I want to share with you a few snap shots of things that happened. Things that a picture would not do justice. I picked a few but have hundreds more. This month was full of joy, laughter, and smiles. If you want to find true unaffected joy, surround yourself with kids.
We had worship every night. We sat in a circle of 37 kids who had their eyes closed and hands open completely focused on worshiping our savior. They sang every worship song with all their little hearts and no one cared about how loud they were. Sitting in that circle praying for the people these children are going to turn into and seeing them, some in prayer, some with their hands raised, some just sitting in God presence I felt heaven and earth collide. I got a picture of what worship could look like in heaven. Most nights I had tears in my eyes because of what a beautiful picture they are creating. I close my eyes and SNAP.
These kids are either orphans who do not have parents or they are children that their parents couldn’t afford to raise so they send them away. It is probably half and half in the orphanage. Cheng Hak is 14 and his mother lives 1 hour away. His dad left when he was born and his mother found out she had gotten HIV when he was a young. Because she cannot work she had no way to support him. At the orphanage he is sponsored so he can go to school and gets plenty of food. He sees his mom maybe once or twice a year. One afternoon we were all headed into town and we asked him to come along. We rode on the back of the tuk tuk which is pretty bumpy. He followed us around the market and we got ice cream before the 20 minute ride home. On the way home we took a turn down another road and confused, I looked at Cheng Hak and asked where are we going?? He got a huge smile on his face and said, “home, we’re going home”. I dont think I will ever forget him in his Barcelona jersey his hair blowing in the wind, with that smile. These kids are proud of their home. They have loving house parents, and 36 brothers and sisters. One boy even told me they were his family. Vandy and Tevy do not run an orphanage, they are raising their family in a home. SNAP.
New Hope is all about sustainability and try to grow or raise most of the food they consume. They have a fish pond with 2,000 catfish that they are raising near the orphanage. Everyday at 4:00 it is time to feed the fish. They kids help get the food ready and would run up and grab our hands and off we went to the fish pond. Kids would walk, run, skip, ride bikes to the pond for feeding time. The fish knew and would start flapping in the surface of the water. The kids loved throwing out the fish food. But they always made sure you had food to throw out too. Countless times I would be watching and someone would call out my name and run over and fill my hand with food. Afterward they would picked all of the dropped pieces off the ground to make sure none go to waste. I miss the feeling of their little hands in mine, I miss the fish pond, I miss the constant chatter and laughter. SNAP.
Lice has been making a small colony in the heads of our squad for the last couple months. A few people on the team had just gotten rid of it before this month. From day one we knew these girls had lice. They itch and pick and with black hair you can see the nits. But I would look around the room every night and see my team hugging kids, carrying kids around, playing with hair, getting their hair played with. No one held back, because loving these girls was more important. SNAP.
(Praiseee- our team came out of the month totally lice free. Now that is a miracle)
At least once a day Nary, the most beautiful 8 year old would run up and give me a hug and then hold my hand and ask me to sing “Baby” by Justin Bieber. The kids LOVE the Biebs. They didn’t just want the chorus, they wanted the whole song, rap included. Lucky for them, I know the whole song, rap included. Together we sang. And it never got old. SNAP.
One day I headed over to the fish pond with Shana, a 12 year old boy who wouldn’t let me out of his sight most days. We got there and realized they had been draining the stream behind the pond and kids were walking through a foot of mud picking up all the little fish left behind. Brooke and I joined in and soon realized we were very inexperienced. These kids were professionals. They walked through the mud and pushed all the water up the bank. The fish would slide up and get stuck then you grabbed them and put them in the bucket. These fish were smaller than my finger and there were hundreds of them. The kids were going to eat the fish the next day for dinner and they were so excited with all the fish. It would have been so easy to look at that situation and think it is pointless. They were quick little fish. I was covered in mud. Gross, smelly, Cambodian mud. Were we making a difference with our small fish? Brooke said she was reminded of how we are called to be fishers of men. What a beautiful analogy that became after I learned how to actually fish. You have to chase down those fish. Once you set your eye on a fish you kept going until you caught it. No matter how small, no matter how insignificant you thought it was, you caught him. SNAP.
Yabesh called me Yabesh. And I called Yabesh Hannah. It was a running joke between us when we said goodnight. He liked to pick on me. But every night he would run over and hold out his pinky. We did a pinky promise to be best friends forever. SNAP.
I also got a snap shot of what it would have looked like to have younger brothers. The teenagers at the orphanage LOVED teasing us. They loved playing soccer with me, and they laughed their heads off anytime they megged me. They would tap my shoulder and walk away. They poked my ribs when I wasn’t paying attention and would run away when I tried to poke them back. They were full of funny expressions and their laughter was contagious. They loved asking me to play Cambodian games and then beating me every time. As much as they loved the jokes and pranks and mischief, they cared about me. They asked if I missed my family and asked to see pictures. These 16 year olds would line up every night to hug us good night. As annoying as they could be, I could never not love them. SNAP.
As we were in the van ready to head the bus station I was waving out the window at all my beloved kids. Shana drew a heart on the window by me. Sultire wrote I love you. They both smiled and waved goodbye. With tears in my eyes I waved back and whispered I love you. SNAP.
