Smells

pre school

keisha notice: apples in boots

little man JJ

Yesterday I was sitting in the gym watching the rugrats play as I sat there trying to soak every bit of the experience in, I got a whiff of something that reminded me of something I had smelled before. What, you ask? Well it reminded me of my mission trip to El Salvador a few years back. I had smelled it in an orphanage, its a smell that one doesn't forget.

The smell of poverty. It has it's own distinctive smell.

Today, in holiday clubs I taught my 25 pre-schoolers How God Created the Earth. Oh boy. As I'm reading the 'kid version story' a flock of birds flies over and immediately sets the kids into a frenzy of screaming and giggling. Kids are kids anywhere, eh? Things going according to MY plan here is definitely not going to be the case. A good lesson to be learned. My little angels JJ (3) and Keisha (5) are beautiful and loving. They are the two that stick out to me most. Never letting go. We painted their faces as "animals" to follow the theme of Genesis, God creating things.. blah blah. We give the kids lunch at the end of Club, because most of them only get about 1 meal a day..aka from us.. hard to imagine huh? The kids hoard the food, you'll notice in Keisha's shoes she has apples tucked into the front so she could have more...

After Club, I went with Rachael, Ethan, Brock, and Louise to Overcome Heights which is another terribly impoverished township, worse one I have ever seen to be honest. Shacks upon shacks, no clean running water except for a few pumps here, and there. It's indescribable the way these people live and raise children in these environments.

We went to a pre-school to love on the kids for a few hours, now take a second and picture the pre-school you went to? Well this one is nothing like that, I can promise you that. We walk in and their are babies all around, toddlers just waking up from naps. I spy a baby in a crib and immediately rush over to pick her up, PSYCHE, spotted in a stroller to my left was another baby.. THE BABY that I want. Her name is Chanel, immediately I could tell there was something different about her. I pick her up and she instantly grabs my sunglasses. Chanel is 1, but she is the size of a 4 month old baby. She can't walk and can barely form words, because she has FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome). Absolutely devastating situation, but the entire time as I held her, I just prayed and prayed. I don't really know what for specifically, but that the Lord would just do something good with her life. Seeing situations like these, sometimes makes me wonder How will life ever improve for any of these kids? That question can't be answered. All I know, and daily have to remind myself is that my job, my mission, is to love and to bring hope to these kids through Jesus Christ. It's all I can do, the rest is up to Him.

This world is just so much bigger than I ever imagined, I know that's a dumb comment, but seeing all these things makes me realize how small I am in such a bigger picture of things. The passage from James has really been on my heart over the past week: enjoy...

James 1:1-7

... testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature, and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

love you all- C