An Eventful Saturday

Back home, I don't like getting up early on a Saturday. Saturdays are the days for sleeping in, resting, and getting necessary work done in the States.

But I'm not in the States am i? So I decided to get up at about 8:30 (GROSS) on this past Saturday (yesterday) and go with some friends to "William's Village." First, allow me to give some background so that you understand why I was waking up this particular morning.

 William is a janitor at our school. In fact, the first time I met William, he was getting a dead rat out of my room and helping me get the smell out of my classroom. That particular incident, he helped with a smile and a laugh and told me that he was just happy to serve at HOPAC. I was amazed right off the bat by his JOY and his SINCERITY and his SERVANT HEART. Later, I overheard some girls talking about William and I found out that outside of the school gate, he is actually Pastor William. A Pastor who is that much of a servant that he would spend his weekdays clearing out dead rats and doing other tedious jobs in the heat? That's the kind of church leader that I was curious about!! What a heart!

 A few days later, I went out for pizza with Laura and Erin and Pastor William came up again. As it turns out, Pastor William has a ministry in his village on Saturday mornings for kids to come and hear bible stories, play games, and just hang out. I have been looking for a ministry to get involved in while I'm here and this sounded like a cool opportunity so I asked Laura and Erin if I could go with them on Saturday morning.

So Laura, Erin, Dave, Marie, our Bajaj drivers, and Marie's houseworker all set out to go to the village at about 9:30. The ride was long, BUMPY, and dusty, but I didn't mind one bit because I was just so excited. Erin and I were riding with Pastori (our favorite Bajaj driver) and he had World Cup music playing so we were thoroughly entertained. Once we entered the village, the children came running to my bajaj with arms extended ready to find out my name and ready to greet us. They were so excited about what the morning had in store. All of their clothes were dirty and tattered. Most the their clothes didn't fit them, either too big or too small. A few were sick. I felt the Lord remind me of what He must have seen when the sick and needy came to Him for hope.
William was there to greet us and let us into a small building where they could sit on benches and listen to our Bible story. Marie taught them about David and Goliath. I think most Americans have probably at least HEARD of this story, but these kids were completely blown away by the story and the possibility that a small boy had defeated a giant with rocks and with the help of a powerful God. We told them to "trust God when you are scared." Then, we gave them a coloring sheet, played some fun relay games outside, and took some pictures together.

Throughout the whole story, I had kids playing with my hair, examining my cartilage piercings ("MBILI????" " TWO????? "hahah it made me laugh), and holding my hand. I so desperately wanted to scoop them up and ask them a million questions about their lives and tell them how great I think they are and how great God thinks they are. However, these children only speak swahili and so I was limited so my small vocabulary, smiles, hugs, and my funny faces. I just kept begging the Lord that His love for them would somehow come across through me.
During the coloring sheets, I walked around and complimented the beauty of each coloring sheet. I've lied to a lot of little kids about how breath-taking their art is, but with these particular coloring sheets, I truly meant each compliment. On top of each coloring sheet, we wrote "Trust in the Lord" in Swahili. 
During games, I found myself surrounded my kids. I found myself laughing and smiling the entire time as I watched them just have FUN. There's something powerful about watching these kids play. I think it's because the joy is so genuine. For that short hour of play time, they can forget about the poverty and the illness and the hard parts of life and just be a child. To watch them experience that freedom was freeing for me.  Honestly, I don't know how else to explain it.
On the way home, William rode in my bajaj and asked me how long I would be in Tanzania, if I was going to come back to his village, and if I liked it here. I told him I would definitely come back. Once our short conversation was over, I found myself thinking, "ok, how on EARTH can I try and put into words all the experiences and emotions that went into this morning?"

  I came to the conclusion that I could try but no matter what I wrote down, I wouldn't be content with and I'd have to accept that.

No child should have to live like that.
I'm inspired by their smiles.