We ride our bikes to ministry every day. Weaving in and out of traffic I take pride in knowing how to maneuver my way around the city now. I take delight in the people who bike up next to me to say hello and carry on a brief conversation, before we part our seperate ways. Along the way I smell Cambodian barbeques, and trash, mixed with incense, burning on the side of the road. This is just another typical day for me.
Then I arrive at the Safe House, pull up to the gate, ring the bell and wait to be let in.
Last week, my team and I went to the house and had planned an afternoon with the girls that would entail making juggling balls out of balloons & sand and playing with a couple of hula hoops we purchased from the market. We have discovered a pattern when we arrive at the home that the girls seem to be a little apathetic and well, a little less than motivated to do much. We, collectively as a team, decide to bring as much excitement with us every time we visit the girls, praying it will transfer from us to them. And on this particular day, it did. While we were helping each other make juggling balls (and by the way, I still don’t know how to juggle) one of the girls snuck off and filled up two balloons with water. She came back with a grin on her face and something behind her back. I asked her what she was up to and she pulled the balloons out from behind her back. We all looked at each other, snatched up the package of balloons, abondoned our juggling project, and ran screaming and laughing to the hoses. We filled the balloons up as quickly as we could.
I laugh as I think back that I thought I’d be able to dodge getting wet. “I’ll just watch them play. Okay, I’ll just get a little wet, maybe a splash, so I can dry off quickly.” It’s almost as if one of the girls heard my thoughts, because at that moment the hose was turned on me and I was hit. I started laughing so hard, grabbed a couple balloons from the ground and chased her around the courtyard. I’m not even sure how it all went down, but before I knew it, we were finding pots and pans from the kitchen to fill with water to get eachother. In a matter of minutes, I was drenched. I felt like a kid again, more importantly, so did the girls. All of us were laughing and screaming and having such a great time together. I saw joy within all of us. This water balloon fight was so unexpected, and because we allowed God to move in those moments, something so beautiful occured and we bonded a little more with those girls.
Another way I saw God use this moment was how when we first arrived at the girls’ home, Kristen and I volunteered to teach them about hygiene, and we set up a schedule for that. The schedule did not work though, which we found out on the first day we were there. So I pushed that idea to the back of my mind and thought we would not be teaching them about this during our time at the home. However, during our water fight, one of the girls asked if we’d wash her hair outside, by the hose. “Sure! Go get the shampoo.” I looked at Leisa and knew she was thinking the same thing I was: PRAISE GOD, we get to teach them after all! We’d just be teaching them in a different way than we’d planned. (hmmm, funny). She brought the shampoo out and soon all the girls wanted their hair washed. So we took turns showing them how to get the soap to the edge of their hair and down to their scalp, then to make sure that all of it got rinsed out. When one little girl asked me to wash her hair, I started tearing up as she smiled and sat on the ground and I washed her hair. “God, you are so good!” It was a humbling experience to wash her hair and even more so when she asked if she could wash mine. I laughed, as I sat down in my sopping wet clothes in a puddle on the ground. She brought the hose over to me, drenching me all over again as she got my hair wet. These are the times I wish I could take a picture–capture the moment and share it with you. I pray though, that you can see the pictures in your own mind that I’ve tried to paint. These are the times I never want to forget. The times when God really spoke to me through a day of fun.
Leisa, Jeanne & I all got our hair washed by the girls outside in the courtyard that day and were able to have this memory with them. I was so thankful for it. We then dried off a bit by swinging on the swings with some of the girls and soon after our water fight, the girls decided they’d had enough for the day and went inside. We decided before leaving, that we would sit outside on the steps of their home and pray for God to bless these girls and this place. I was so grateful for this day and saw God in the entirity of it. He is so good!
