As the weeks have gone by, I have been gradually getting to know the kids better. Each one of them has a special way of worming their way into your heart. The kids are divided up into houses, each with their own house mother. The houses are the Chispas (7 little girls ages 1 3/4 - 9ish), the Tesoros (9 little boys ages 2 - 8ish), the Luces (9 older girls ages 10 - 18), and the Amigos (10 older boys ages 10 - almost 17). There isn't a house that I don't throughly enjoy being with. The Chispas are super lovable, just a bunch of little girls ready to have fun. The Tesoros, well... they are crazy. The Luces, they were a tough group to crack at first, but after getting through, I really enjoy them. Then there are the Amigos, they are quite fun. The younger of them, remind me a lot of Isaiah when he is hanging out with his buds. The older ones, remind me of Ben and his group of friends. So, I guess I like being with them because they remind me of home.
The children here are a challenge to me every day. They have been through so much and still have such joy. Can I say that my mom use to bury me in sand as a babysitting method? How about that my mom tried to kill me? Did I have a pot of boiling water spill or get poured over me, resulting in a six month hospitalization? Did I have to run away, at the age of 9, with my little sister? No, and yet I complain. I see how much God has blessed me with, and yet I don't trust Him to provide. I have had nothing of the trials these children have faced, and yet I still have only a portion of their joy.
The past week has contained both experiences to challenge and times of simple fun. Last week we were able to take the kids on Salidas (little outings) as a treat they were told they would have around Christmas. We took the kids, in separate groups, to the Lagunas. (A pool) Here are some pictures of the group I went with.
On the way, Isabel is excited, however I am not sure what Abraham was doing...
A group of short termers were here for a week and a half. They were from Illinois. Katie, Kelly and Alex. They were a lot of fun. Unforunately, now they are gone.
Katie is getting her PHD in Math. She loved playing with the kids, especially the three little boys... Alejandro, Jose Luis, and Jhon (John).
Last weekend, we took seven of the older kids (and a majority of the volunteers) to the garbage dump. Thats right, I said garbage dump. We went the for a type of "kids club" which some ladies from another church hold. There is a whole community of people who live on the dump, and so we wanted to attend this club and have our kids give out gifts to those in even more need than them. It was really amazing. Some of the older boys were being particularly good with the kids and adults from the dump. One boy Josue (the oldest boy here at the orphanage), was extraordinarily thoughtful towards an older lady. When it came time to leave he gave her his hat. Talk about having so little, and yet being willing to give even that away. I am so glad that I was able to witness and be apart of that whole experience. Here are some pictures.
In that day, we all learned a very important lesson, one that with stay with us for years to come. Through the love of children, this verse became real to me.
"In all things I have shown you that by working hard in the way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Acts 20:35
Thank's for posting. Whatever little I can share in the humility and sincerity your stories show, I do. There is no place for cynicism when I see the faces of the kids there. It makes me very happy when I can get past all the jealousy.
ReplyDeleteVery nice post. For a bit of extra motivation, I offer up an excerpt from C.H. Spurgeon's (I love this guy) sermon 179:
ReplyDeleteI. First, keep the heart full. However pure the water may be in the central reservoir, it will not be possible for the company to provide us with an abundant supply of water, unless the reservoir itself be full. An empty fountain will most assuredly beget empty pipes; and let the machinery be never so accurate, let every thing else be well ordered, yet if that reservoir be dry, we may wait in vain for any of the water that we require. Now, you know many people—(you are sure to meet with them in your own society, and your own circle; for I know of no one so happy as to be without such acquaintances)—whose lives are just dry, good-for-nothing emptiness. They never accomplish anything; they have no mental force; they have no moral power; what they say, nobody thinks of noticing; what they do is scarcely ever imitated. We have known fathers whose moral force has been so despicable, that even their children have scarcely been able to imitate them. Though imitation was strong enough in them, yet have they unconsciously felt, even in their childhood, that their father was, after all, but a child like themselves, and had not grown to be a man. Do you not know many people, who if they were to espouse a cause, and it were entrusted to them, would most certainly pilot it to shipwreck. Failure would be the total result. You could not use them as clerks in your office, without feeling certain that your business would be nearly murdered. If you were to employ them to manage a concern for you, you would be sure they would manage to spend all the money, but could never produce a doit. If they were placed in comfortable circumstances for a few months, they would go on carelessly till all was gone. They are just the flats, preyed on by the sharpers in the world; they have no manly strength, no power at all. See these people in religion: it does not matter much what are their doctrinal sentiments, it is quite certain they will never affect the minds of others. Put them in the pulpit: they are the slaves of the deacons, or else they are over-ridden by the church; they never have an opinion of their own, can not come out with a thing; they have not the heart to say, "Such a thing is, and I know it is." These men just live on, but as far as any utility to the world is concerned, they might almost as well never have been created, except it were to be fed upon by other people. Now, some say that this is the fault of men's heads: "Such a one," they say, "could not get on; he had a small head; it was clean impossible for him to prosper, his head was small, he could not do anything; he had not enough force." Now, that may be true; but I know what was truer still—he had got a small heart and that heart was empty. For, mark you, a man's force in the world, other things being equal, is just in the ratio of the force and strength of his heart. A full-hearted man is always a powerful man: if he be erroneous, then he is powerful for error; if the thing is in his heart, he is sure to make it notorious, even though it may be a downright falsehood. Let a man be never so ignorant, still if his heart be full of love to a cause, he becomes a powerful man for that object, because he has got heart-power, heart-force. A man may be deficient in many of the advantages of education, in many of those niceties which are so much looked upon in society; but once give him a good strong heart, that beats hard, and there is no mistake about his power. Let him have a heart that is right full up to the brim with an object, and that man will do the thing, or else he will die gloriously defeated, and will glory in his defeat. HEART IS POWER.
It's nice seeing all the stories that you have been telling me played out in these pictures! That is so sweet of Josue, he really does remind me of the same person he reminds you of! When you talked about going to the dump, it did remind me of Arenales. What a challenge it is to me to see kids from an orphanage, who don't have a lot, giving to others who have even less.
ReplyDeleteWho does he remind you of
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