Chitwan, Nepal. Hotter than I knew it to be possible. The water buffalo roam casually, intermingling with the goats and their kids, and for one night for just an hour I roamed with them followed by the giggling, squirming kiddos of the remote village.
My team and I arrived at someone’s small home made with wood beams and cow dung for a fellowship with members of the church a few nights after we had arrived to Chitwan. As I slid my shoes off to walk inside I looked back out of the door frame and am met with three shy smiles. These three little beans grabbed my heart immediately so instead of taking a seat next to my teammates in the house, I scurry after the now giggling little ones. Their giggles quickly bring on a game of tag that reaches its peak around what must be their home. After only a few minutes there are closer to ten kids that I am chasing, instead of just three. We chase and laugh and they climb trees and shriek as I sneak around a corner to scare them. The number of kids continues to build and by the time they all, unexpectedly, decide to plop down in the dirt I count nineteen. A mother, belonging to some of them, but clearly not all of them, looked on with amusement.
They all sat silently staring at me, most with hands over their mouths trying to contain the giggles that are threatening to bubble out. Obviously, this is some sort of gang up against me as they all know the secret they are in on. So what do I do? Plop myself down on that ground too and for a few minutes a round of the silent game proceeds as I pretend to become a mime, thus inducing more giggles.
The silence is broken with an abrupt and awkwardly forced, “Sister, what is your name?” So at least one does speak some bit of English! I answer and a few more basic questions are asked and answered before they find out that I am a Christian, like many of them! What a sweet little surprise!
I began to write things in the dirt with a stick, as I was curious what they actually knew in English. It turns out the words they could write were “banana”, “apple”, and “gesas”. By this third, I was, rightfully, quite confused. As I asked about it they declared, “Jesus!”
Jesus, indeed! Gosh, these kiddos really were the sweet reminder of the heart of Jesus that I needed that day! The childlike joy we should all be filled with, and Jesus’ always welcoming arms for the children. I may have missed the night of fellowship but these kids were the perfect uplifting note in the middle of a long, yet beautiful week in the middle of nowhere! I would like to believe that I was also an uplifting note in all nineteen of those hearts. A bit of “Gesas” to fill up their sweet little hearts.
