This is my first time to Africa, and my first mission
trip. Ever since arriving here, I have
felt as if I have been here before.
There was never really an awe moment for me. So many moments in my life have just lead me
here. I am so relaxed, like sitting on a
friend’s porch after being invited for dinner and just being in the moment,
taking everything in. I think this is
what surprised me most about coming here.
However, upon meeting the first few children, who were very
shy, began to wonder if I would ever connect with these kids. Then suddenly, in a blink of an eye, I found
myself in the midst of a sea of children, many grinning ear to ear, asking for
hugs and attention, and I so wished I could be in more than one place at a
time. One six-year-old girl inspected
each of my fingernails for quite some time, touching each of my fingers and
nails with her tiny hands, and turning my hand this way and that, then staring
up at me with a huge grin.
I shared with several children and young teenage girls that
I knew their “special friend” (AKA, church sponsor), and they gave me huge
smiles and warm hugs. I bent down to
take a picture of a little one, who stood patiently for me to take his picture,
then he quickly wrapped his arms around my neck and latched his legs around my
waist, and he was my little cuddle bug for what seemed like hours. I prayed and worked in a massive garden. I painted a wall. I washed feet. I scrubbed little toes. I took a photo with the mages (“mah-gays”;
mothers), and one of them made me sit on her lap. I blew bubbles with a circle of kids, some
who waited patiently, some who shouted over and over, “now me, now me”, and
some who shyly pointed to themselves and smiled. I counted them out, and they would wait for
their turn – one, two, three – until it was their turn. Bubbles flowed from the bubble wand and the
children would try to catch them and pop them, or bubbles would pop in their
faces, and they would smirk or giggle.
For some children who didn’t understand how to blow bubbles (or didn’t
understand me), I would lightly blow on their arms so they would know how to
blow into the wand. They got it! And they would laugh with glee.
I visited a family of eight – a father, a mother, six boys
and their four-year-old sister. I found
myself overwhelmed and speechless, but so happy to be there, to see the mother
laugh and blush, to hear the parent’s concerns and their children’s
dreams.
I also visited an extended family, where a young teen lived
with his cousins and aunts, and his elderly grandmother, who sat on a mat on
the ground, with her wrinkles and very firm and purposeful words that were
interpreted to me and my small team. I
was so blessed to hear from his great aunt, who had such a passion for God, and
who thanked us for coming to visit and telling us how we fulfilled her
life-long dream of bringing America to her.
I watched and listened to over a hundred children sing and
laugh. I watched many dance, and laugh
some more.
Near the early evening, I would stop for a moment. I watched the African sunset, and I breathed
in God. There is great beauty in Africa,
and such warm hearts, and now my heart is here as well.
Dawn
