I saw God’s heart yesterday through the girls washing the
children’s feet. There were easily 50 children from the age of 1 to 16 who
lined up in anticipation to have their feet washed by one of the girls. Some
laughed and looked on unsure what to think about the Americans washing their
feet. This was our third and last day at this particular care point. The
children seemed so different now then our first day when they had just stared
up at us with their big brown eye that looked full of pain and sadness, not sure
what to think of us. We had been told that since this care point was harder to
get to teams hadn’t been able to visit it as much and the shyness of the kids
seemed to confirm it. They warmed up to all of us quickly though.
Each day with them seemed progressively better as they
became more comfortable with us and used to the little schedule that was
planned. We would first just hang out with them and play little games.
Later the girls would act out a Bible
story and play games that corresponded to the lesson. The first two days the
older kids didn’t get there until later on so we would just hold the little
ones which they loved. If one of us set one child down then they would go find
a new lap! The torn and dirty clothes spoke of what little the children had.
Several had worn the same clothes everyday we were there. They also loved
chasing the bubbles that Rachel would blow, helping each child to have a turn.
By the end all had few children that had become attached to them!
The little girl that loved sitting on my lap while I tickled
her or played little clapping games name is Nokwethu. When our translator asked
her how hold she was, she didn’t answer. I wondered if it was because she
didn’t know. She looked about seven and had two sisters, on that was maybe 13
and a younger one who looked 2. Her little sister was scared of us and would
cry if we looked at her. There were many
times Nokwethu had to intervene and take her to the Go Gos. (The Go Gos are the
women who cook the food for the children everyday. Go Go is what a grandmother
is called.) I could tell Nokwethu was
probably mom to her most of the day until her older sister got home from
school. She loved being carried and getting to act like a child when she was
with me.
The team had done a good job of acting out Bible lessons
each day and coming up with games or little activities to go along with them.
They learned about David and Goliath, Noah and now some of the miracles that
Jesus did. As an act of love they chose to wash the kids feet like Jesus did.
This was really like in Bible times as lots of the children didn’t have shoes
so the water got dirty fast. It was a good ending to our time with them. Before
leaving they sang one more song for us. Their voices are so beautiful and they
praise God in spite of their hard circumstances. All were sad to say goodbye
when we had to drive away. We probably
won’t see those kids again as we still have many more care points to go to. We
are thankful for the time spent with them and trust that God will continue to
provide food through this care point and protection.
