This is part three of a three part story.
For part one click here.
For part two click here.
Lessons Learned- Part 3: The Day I Found Myself Murdering a Kid.
The day started like normal. We all gathered together before we rode out into the village, have some devotional time, and headed out. I usually bring my soccer ball to play with the kids, so I quickly grabbed it. We drove up… and no kids came running. Not a single one… The aftermath of the robbery ordeal left a sour taste in the villager’s mouth. It was quiet. You couldn’t hear a laugh. You didn’t see a smile. It was just my team.
I think the village thought we wouldn’t show up again. I mean, why would we? We serve and love and care for, just to get hurt. Who would do that?
Jesus would, and He did.
And now we do also.
We walked into the village, waiting, praying, for a child to come out and play. We walked, and walked, and walked, and finally, a head popped out. A smile soon followed. And one by one, as they realized that we weren’t mad, they began to flock towards us. But one stayed hidden. The kid who stole my phone.
We played and jumped with the kids.
But one stayed hidden.
We tickled and wrestled.
But one stayed hidden.
We bathed and cared to wounds.
But one stayed hidden.
We ate a good ole fashion bowl of delicious soup, gathered together on the dirt ground, eating and laughing.
But one stayed hidden.
The kid who stole my iPhone never joined in. Whether shame or fear or anger or whatever the case, he didn’t come and played. I saw him though, on his bike going through a part of the village. His eyes met mine. And for a moment, in my recollection of the valueless things on my phone, and the image of him selling it or just tossing it away as if it was just trash, I felt rage against him. He took from me. And I had anger against him.
But in that bittersweet sensation, that tug on my heart, I froze deathly still and was reminded by the Spirit what Jesus says about those who have anger, and I soon realized that I had just murdered a kid, which leads me to my final lesson learned:
Love.
In life we will find two choices when it comes to us and the rest of the world: we can either love or we can murder. God has called us to love so passionately, so relentlessly, that people are without excuse on whether or not they’ve witnessed God’s love when they meet us. God’s love should pour out so catastrophically through us to others that they can’t help but stop and wonder what’s different about us. I believe that, just like Jesus, we are to love people so much we will go to extremes to help them. Like our Savior who poured out His life and blood so we would have a reason to rejoice, we are called to lay down our lives for our friends and love until it hurts. Love bleeds, just look at the Cross. Life should be hard for Christians, because the more you love, the more painful it gets. But even in pain we find a way, to rejoice; through savoring the Way. Our lives showed resemble Christ, who commanded us to love God and love people. Nothing we do in life will matter unless it involves loving God and the people whom He has surrounded us with.
And as the kid tool off to the other side of the village, I was reminded why I was on this mission trip; why I was here in sweat, in dirt, with bugs crawling on me, with kids weaving through my legs, with my things being stolen, with illness and death around me, thousands of miles away from the comfort of my family and home: because Jesus Christ loves the unlovable, and because of that I will and do too. It’s easy to love those who love you. But are you willing enough to love those who do love, nor know what love is? And it’s not that we loved Him first, but that He first loved us. And now I go and love, to the ends of the earth, even to a little boy who now has an iPhone.
