Several years ago the owners of a retreat center about 30 minutes from Iglesia Adonai asked them if they would do a children's church for the kids living around the retreat center. Each Sunday afternoon youth and young adults from the church travel to this area, called Herona and share Jesus and lots of love with these kids. In the dry season up to 200 children will attend and the Pastor has started conducting classes for the adults living in the area. There is a lot of poverty and need, and no church in the area to minister. We're thankful to be able to join these leaders of Iglesia Adonai as they minister to the least of these. The following post was written by Abby, a member of our team from Wilson Community Church.
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| Youth from Iglesia Adonai leading worship at Herona |
Today was a day that I cant even put words to describe the impact it
had on me. We arrived at this beautiful resort complete with orange,
lime and banana trees. Tropical flowers were everywhere the nice green
grass was not. Absolutely gorgeous.
About 65 children
arrived running with excitement into the building (it was raining,
heavily). White chairs lined up rows for the children to sit in, with
these beautiful youth from Iglesia Adonai in the front with microphones
leading worship. High tempo and fantastic dance moves to each word. It
was nothing like I had ever seen.
There was one particular boy
that grabbed my attention. He was being carried in by one of the youth
young men. I snatched him up because he was upset and crying. There
was no mistake that this little boy was literally crusted in dirt from
head to toe. Dirt under his
fingernails, dirt filled up every crevice
under his chin and he and all the children smelled of smoke. Bathing
was scarce and probably not in his near future. I took him to the back
and cleaned him up a bit with some baby wipes (praise God for those).
He was a gorgeous little boy with or without the dirt. Once cleaned up
we took him back to his older sister (who was about 10 years old and
taking care of him and 2 other siblings). He calmed down and wound up
falling asleep sitting straight up in his chair. Nixa picked him up and
swaddled him while he slept.
The children had a blast playing
games and singing songs for 2 hours. Now it was snack time. Each child
received a cup of soda and a tamale. Most children ate it right up.
Then there were others that took a few bites and wrapped theirs back up
into their napkin. We found out that they were taking this tamale home
to share it with other siblings and family members. One tamale. Just
one they were going to share with family members. One tamale. Its
amazing to me to see that these starving children are so selfless.
Absolutely amazing.
So after seeing these children filled with
dirt and hearts full of love, we took the bus to go see where these
children lived. Picture the forts we made as kids with chairs and bed
sheets. Replace the sheets with scrap metal, and that is what their
homes looked like. Several families could be sharing the same 12x12
home. A wood burning fire to cook on (which explains the smoke smell on
the children). Think poor, and then realize you can't fathom how poor
this is, and these kids are STILL happy. Truly amazing.
God
is everywhere. Whether you are in a multi-million dollar home in
America or in a "fort" in Guatemala. God can and does put smiles on
your face if you are willing to accept his gift. Our God is an awesome
God. He creates miracles every day and will continue to do that.
Lord,
please bless these children. Inspire them to live out their dreams in
your name Lord. Praise you for all of these special children. And thank
you for this life changing moment in my life, Lord. Praise YOU in all
of your works. Amen.
