A Different Kind of Exciting

Sometimes, doing mission work just isn’t that glamorous. I feel like I spent the majority of my day today taking kids to the bathroom. Oh, and cleaning up the floor when they didn’t make it. This morning, we took two kids to the clinic. I took one of them to the toilet four times in the 2 ½ hours that we were there. Of course, I use the term ‘toilet’ loosely. It was actually a squatty, essentially a hole in the bathroom floor. Let me tell you, holding a two year old over a squatty is a pretty awesome adventure.

A couple weeks ago, we had several other Americans come to help us with the feeding program. We seized the opportunity of having extra help to give de-wormer to all of the kids. There are so many parasites and viruses in the water here that it is really helpful to take a chewable tablet to kill off all the bad stuff in your stomach every 3 to 6 months. It is a good preventative health measure. To give out the de-wormer, I tore open each package and handed the tablet to Heidi, another SHC volunteer, who gave it to the next child in the food line and made sure that he or she chewed and swallowed it. We had to move quickly—900 is a huge number of kids. As I quickly opened each package, I tossed the trash into a bag held by Randy, one of our extra volunteers. At one point, I apologized to him for his less-than-exciting job. He laughed, said that he was glad to help, and commented, “Documentaries never show the guy holding the trash bag.”

He was right. So often, people seem to think that doing missions in Africa must be constantly thrilling. I do love it, I have had lots of wonderful adventures, I have played with hundreds of sweet, adorable children, and I would recommend that anyone try this out. However, I don’t usually feel like I live on the edge here. Like I said, mission work isn’t always very glamorous. It’s amazing, but not in the ways one might expect. Often, the little things are what make being here so wonderful.

Today, Brenda and some other young girls came over for me to teach them some “new songs for praising” at their request. I taught them several of my favorite Christian songs for kids. We talked about what they meant, we laughed at the silly motions, and I had the time of my life! This morning at the clinic, I sat for a few hours coloring, singing, and making faces with the children while we waited to see the doctor. Another child whom we had never met came over to join in, and I taught her some clapping games. Tonight, Heidi and I went down to the village market to get food for supper, and I carried a tiny two year old on my back in a Ugandan baby carrier, basically a large piece of material. I loved having Atasha on my back, and a couple of my favorite village children ran to join us as we walked. It is these little adventures that make me love being here so very much. It is such an incredible blessing to have the opportunity to shower God’s love on these children in so many little ways.

And receiving their love in return in delightful and moving. Sumya, a precious 7 year old girl, kissed my hand yesterday. Two year old Faith breaks into a huge grin and gives me a hug every time I walk into the room. Sanya makes a goofy face when she sees me, and we chase each other around in circles. Twelve year old Brenda asks to do my hair nearly every time I see her. Alima will sit in my lap with her arms around my waist for an hour at a time. These children are beautiful, crazy, sweet, fun, and hilarious, and I love them.

God is so, so good.