They Already Knew

We spent three days last week “working” at a nearby orphanage.  I use the term “working” extremely loosely; for the entire three days I felt like I was 7 years old again.  We would spend 2 hours with the kids in the morning, playing basketball and soccer, having tickle fights, singing songs, and whatnot.  Then we would come back to the YWAM base for some lunch and a nap, only to return in the afternoon to a new set of kids and the same fun games.  At 25 years of age, I thought my days of eating, sleeping, and playing games all day were well behind me; glad I was wrong about that!  My only regret from this week is that I played too much, forgetting to even bring my camera with me.  Luckily Shanda snapped more than a few, including the one to the right.

The time with the kids this week was definitely fun, but ‘hello’ was about all the English they knew.  All six of us enjoyed being there, but without a translator, we couldn’t let them know why we were there.  Our last day was drawing to a close, and after an intense game of basketball, Dan laid down on the ground with his arms stretched out to cool off.  Without hesitation, all of the kids sprung into action, re-enacting the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.  With pretend hammers they nailed Dan’s outstretched arms to an imaginary cross.  Then they stood him up and pretended to nail two children, one on either side of Dan, to two more pretend crosses.  Having waited for what they determined to be the proper amount of time, they took Dan down off of the cross and carried him, or should I say he walked with them, to the makeshift cave which they had created in the corner of the building, where they proceeded to bury him.  

Sometimes God asks us to share his name with people, and other times he simply wants us to show his love.  This past week was definitely the latter of the two.

…”Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.  Mark 10: 14-16