Angels with Dirty Noses
My “Slum-Buff Millionaire” Themed Christmas
Slum
This past week I watched ‘Slum Dog Millionaire’ for the first time. What struck me about watching this movie from Nepal though is the realness of it. The harsh reality the main character faces is not fiction, but the sad truth of close to 100 slum children we have met in these past weeks.
Every day a group from the missions organization we are working with head to the nearby slums of Nepal to meet with slum children. They build relationships, and importantly, share Jesus’s love and provide them with an education.
Every Wednesday our ministry hosts gather a group of these slum children and bring them to a ‘soccer field’ close to our house. Our squad and our friends on the ‘YWAM’ team (Youth With a Mission) play soccer and whatever other games the kids want for the entire morning. Afterwards we all sit in a large circle and enjoy lunch together.
This past week though was special. Our ministry hosts travelled to the slums earlier in the week bought over 50 pairs of shoes for the slum children. So this Wednesday with new shoes, and warm feet, they were really ready to play. There was something else special about this past Wednesday. We had a Christmas celebration; every child received a gift, and we bought cake for everyone to celebrate Jesus’s birthday. A simple gesture, two uncomplicated kind acts, but the kids went crazy with excitement.
Buff
At one point in the morning sat down on the hill over looking the soccer field. I realized that for one day a week these kids get to be normal kids. One day they won’t have to beg all day in fear of getting beat by their parents if they return home empty handed. One day a week they can eat a piece of chicken. One day they can play, knowing they are safe. One day they a week they can get as many hugs as they want. So for this one day, when the soccer ball rolls through the water buffalo’s fresh, liquid poop I won’t care. I will kick the poopy soccer ball and carry on laughing and playing.
Millionaire
When I was a kid I asked my parents if we were rich. They replied “No sweetie, we are not rich with money, but we are rich with love”. That’s what these slum kids made me remember.
A flock of sheep also walked through our soccer field at one point.
I turned to one of the children sitting next to me and asked “do you like sheep”?
He replied “Yes, and we are all Jesus’s sheep, he loves us very much”
I was like, whoaaa wisdom from an 8 year old if I ever heard it. This child who physically had nothing knew he had love. He had a softness in his eyes, and when we sat down to eat, he saw that my plate had less food on it than his. He selflessly pointed his little finger to his plate and offered me some of his food. I wanted to cry. This kid blew my mind. I thank God that He has this sweet boy in His arms, and that this boy can feel His embrace.
Later I asked our ministry host what his favourite part of working with slum children is. He simply replied “seeing their excitement for a simple meal”. He looked over at the kids all goofing off, smiled and continued: “these children are ‘angels with dirty noses'”.
Photo credit Norma Cortes
