When I first arrived at Kedesh Sanctuario, I was overwhelmed. I cried. I was miserable. I was grumpy. I wanted to be anywhere else in the world other than here. Slowly my mindset about Kedesh began to change. Slowly my heart for Kedesh began to change. Now I am at the point where I only have a few days left and nothing in me desires to leave. I could very easily spend the next 4 months here. I keep joking with a boy that he can take my spot in Family Force 6 and I will stay at Kedesh and he keeps agreeing, and it has always been a joke, but what I don’t think he realizes that I am serious.
My heart truly goes out to these boys. I love hanging out with them, having fun with them, and just talking with them to find out their stories. I know some boys more than others, but I know I can relate to all of them once it is time to step onto the volleyball court. I hate picking favorites, of anything really but especially people. At one point in time, my list of ‘favorites’ had 7 names on it. It was impossible to choose just one, but I was finally able to narrow the list and choose an ultimate favorite out of all these amazing boys.
(Which one do you think it will be?
Jonah, Rockman, Joao Budy, Nando, Joao or Moises?)
So let me tell you a little about him and how he has claimed this glorious spot in my life:
His name is Joao (John in English). He is 10 years old. He is an only child. He has no father. I don’t think he sees his mom often. He has been living in Kedesh for a couple of years. He loves baseball. He is small, but don’t let size fool you with this one. Quickly after becoming acquainted with all the boys, this one definitely stuck out to me. He never really looked angry, but didn’t smile often and his neutral face can cause some questioning (this is something I have been working on personally). I would always try to make him smile to see a smile that went from ear to ear. Soon we began talking more and having fun either with sports, while tending the goats, or even at meal times.
(Joao and Me- don't you jut love than smile?)
It was then assigned that each of us World Racers would have a child to be a tutor to for our last two weeks at Kedesh. Because of my interactions with Budy (his nickname), I was paired with him. Our to do list included: gardening, writing, hygiene and chores. Not too bad. I think the 2nd day of being paired with Budy, I am informed that he is probably the most troublesome kid in Kedesh. My first thought: oh great why did I choose the trouble maker? I was determined to stick to the schedule and show this kid some genuine God love. Something has to crack that rough look he puts on.
It was actually on a walk to the market that my heart for Budy completely broke and he won the award of being my favorite. It was later in the afternoon when he told me that he needed to go buy bread. I took that as an invitation to join him. So we leave Kedesh and begin walking to the market. At first I was continually praying because I just left the compound to walk into the town with only a 10 year old as my guide/security/protection. That would be a lack of common sense I think. But back to the point, I was really focused on praying and before I know it we are at the market area. We see a lady selling bread. He buys one piece of bread and hands me the bag it is in. We then go to another tienda (shop) and he buys one egg and again hands it to me and I place it in the bag. We begin to walk back to Kedesh and he stops at one more tienda. He asks the vendor something, hands him money and says dosh (two). He then tells me that I can choose a bag of chips. This ten year old kid who watered a garden in order to earn 15 Metticash (about $0.56) spent some of his money on me. We walk back to Kedesh eating our chips. About halfway home, Budy quickly switches to walk on my right side. At first this didn’t make sense, but then I realized a man was on walking towards us that side and Budy was putting himself in between me and that man. Why did I ever doubt my protection with this 10 year old? As soon as we get back, he calls me into the kitchen and is telling me he is going to cook his egg. My volleyball team calls me up to play so I run out of the kitchen. After winning two games, Budy tells me he is waiting for me. I run into the kitchen to see what he is waiting on, and he has split his bread in half and his egg in half and made me a half egg sandwich! I think I went into shock after that point.
(Joao getting water from the lake for his garden)
Later that night, I just cried, again being so overwhelmed, but this time with emotions of not wanting to leave. From a teammate I learned that it has been noticed that Budy’s behavior around Kedesh has improved and he has a motivation for this life that he never did before. One week of loving on a kid, being patient with him, and seeing him as God sees him has started a change in his life that I can only pray will continue once my team moves on.
It will be hard to leave.
There will be many goodbyes to say.
There will be many tears shed.
But it was great to be here.
There were many memories made.
There were many lives changed.
