Thursday, June 27th
The biggest thing I can say about today was that it was 1) enjoyable, still emotional, but enjoyable, and 2) an answer to prayer.
The first four days if someone had asked me if I was having a good time the answer would technically have been no. I was enjoying meeting the Bruskis, the interns and hanging out with my team. However, I saw and heard more stories of abuse, distress, lostness, anger, corruption, and anguish that it was hard to constitute that as fun.
Today God, through the Spirit, His Word, and others, I was able to see good, progress and yes even fun.
I started the day walking up the hill with some of the people from our team. Even though I soaked through the one pair of jeans I had found, my fuzzy socks and shoes, it was worth it for the exercise, togetherness and quiet.
We had another working morning, and then the village kids came over for another kids club. Kiley, Mary, Amanda, Michelle and I had about 8 kids show up and no translator! For about an hour we were on our own to play playdoh, do nails and then Kiley and I played basketball and pig (or PORK pronounced porka) with some of the boys.
It was seriously just plain fun. They are really into soccer but need to work on hand/eye coordinatino so we did lots of bounce passes, chest passes and throws. Being a mama of boys and a sister to two brothers came in super handy.
Laney (Bruski) showed up to translate a quick review of our lesson and to sing a song or two and then we were on our own again for crafts. Thankfully painting doesn't require much explanation.
Honestly, sometimes it doesn't feel like big Kingdom work to play games and do crafts and teach lessons to kids but it something I absolutely love. Robin (Bruski) challenged us to memorize Romans 12 and that has been such an encouragement to me in thinking about each of our jobs in the body of Christ.
In the afternoon we were going back to the minor center and I was DREADING it. We went Sunday and I felt very useless and awkward, like I said me and teenagers just don't gel. Riding in the van with Razvan ( a Romanian kid from the village. He's 13 has a hard family life but a wonderful grandmother and comes in and out of there home daily) lifted my spirits and then as we walked in I, in desperation, just prayed Lord help me not to freak out. Pretty holy I know.
I have to thank my Heavenly Father for answering my pathetic and desperate prayer. We had a BLAST and according to the interns and BIM leaders had one of the most successful days at the center and the first day of no soccer.
They had been starting some team building with the kids in hopes that there will be more working together and acting like a family instead of abusing each other and being enemies. Zach led us all in some relays, games and a wiffle gball match that required lots of encouraging each other and teamwork. It could not have gone better. Seriously it was so fun and he was in his element. God gave me an awesome fella! I even got to see and play with Lucy again and got a goodbye from her and her brother Laol when we left.
On the way home we got to know Caleb and Alex a lot better and then after our nightly worship and devotion had a mini CCC jam session/sing along where somehow I was convinced to sing with them the Sunday we share about our trip.
My biggest take aways from today were actually focusing on the motto Belief in Motion has and that is one less and one more. God gave me moments today and helped me find some in the past days that helped me focus more on what He is doing in the lives of all these people when from first glance it might seem like hopelessness. I began to see the victories that there is one less boy living alone, there is one less child being abused, there is one more teenager hearing the word of God, there is one more person being the hands and feet of Jesus. There is a reason the bible tells us about a shepherd leaving a flock of 99 to find the 1 that lost its way. One is a big number in the eyes of the Lord and all those ones add up.
* no pictures from Minor Center
No comments:
Post a Comment