Today was yet another beautiful day in Bogota, where you always have a full view of the mountains and sky, no matter where you stand(trust me, it never gets old). We had a later start this morning, with breakfast at 7:30, which was fine by me. We have the most amazing chef cooking for us here in the guest house(honestly, thank God for her and her culinary skills. Don't worry, parents, we're not starving down here!). This morning, she came in with her daughter and granddaughter, which was pretty cool. But I digress.
So, today, the missions group served at La Fundacion la Luz del Mundo, a ministry in a nearby neighborhood. To be completely honest with you, I wasn't exactly ecstatic to be working with a group of kids yet again (I know, I know, shame on me). The previous day hadn't been...how do I say it... easy.
You probably have already read about yesterday from the other bloggers, so I'll just quickly share my experience(it contributes to the message, I promise).Yesterday, we each were responsible for a single child of a ministry called Hogar de Paz. We visited several tourist sites with these kids, and as much as it was my first time seeing some of the sights Bogota had to offer, it was the majority of the Hogar de Paz kids' first time as well. Keeping this- as well as the fact that many of these kids don't have good, healthy examples in the home- in the front of my mind was probably one of the only things that kept me sane that day, and for good reason, too. I spent the day chasing this kid around a mountain, a garden, and a museum, as well as stopping him from launching himself down flights of stairs, looping my finger through his backpack strap so that he wouldn't roll down a mountain, pulling him from the edges of rooftops, and pulling him down from high places (please know that this wasn't fun for me, as I'm 5'3) after he performed an amazing feat of parkour with some of the other ministry kids(think, "My friend is offering me a boost with his hands in jumping up to this ledge where I most definitely should not be... I'm gonna do it, just because"). "Breathe," I kept telling myself as I'm sprinting after this child. "Breathe". Alas, at the very end of the day, when we had to say goodbye, Señora Woody encouraged my kid to give me a hug and say goodbye. At first, he kind of gave me a half hug and then sprinted off to look at something, but then he returned to give me a real hug. With his head. (Think battering ram splintering wooden doors). All jokes aside, we embraced(after he found the use of his arms) and said goodbye, looking at me with those George Clooney eyes(thanks, Señora Woody, for that reference). It was in this moment that the solid walls of my pride came crashing down, and I realized that all of this wasn't for my sake, but for his. The team was sent here, by God Himself, to serve, and not be served. To care, and not be cared for(though we most definitely are cared for, quite well). (Okay, that may have been a longer "summary" than originally planned, but I really think it needed to be heard, or at least the last few sentences.)
Anyways, at the ministry today, I led a craft group with Sarah Nissly, in which we constructed sheep out of marshmallows and pretzels. As I mentioned before, I was less that mentally prepared to deal with another group of kids. But, boy, was I surprised. The kids that came through our group were absolutely amazing. To add to that, I was introduced by Señora Woody to a girl who shared my name. "Me gusta su nombre" ("I like your name"), I said with a smile, and the hug she gave me nearly brought tears to my eyes(not exactly sure why, but it was pretty great). As we went through the day, my overall mood got better and better. When one group was leaving our section in rotation, a little girl told me goodbye, and she held my hand, only letting go when her little arm could no longer stretch so that her hand met mine (again, waterworks). Also, one little boy asked to take a picture with me, with me(honestly, that had only been desired from other people like Michael or Taylor, but never me). As you all probably guessed, I was pretty darn exited to take one picture with one kid. I didn't cry that time, which was weird. My smile in that picture was probably overdone, but it was genuine. Believe that.
For me, today was the absolute best day of this missions trip thus far(for obvious reasons, at least to me). I'm thankful to God for allowing me to serve in Colombia with these wonderful people, and I can't wait to see what the next few days have in store.
Much Love,
Stephanie Druid
p.s.: The picture is of my kid, the professional sprinter, at one of the tourist sites. He's okay, I promise. He's only posing.
No comments:
Post a Comment