This Little Light of Mine

We spent a good part of the day cooking lunch, which comprised of pasta with marinara sauce, chicken, and bruschetta. We visited a local mart, purchased the ingredients, then returned home to concoct the meal…and it was delicious! After lunch, jet lag finally caught up to us and, despite the valiant efforts of both our own will and the divine cure to tiredness (coffee), we took a 2 hours nap. At 5 P.M. we headed to the school ministry in the slums. Unaware of what exactly we were getting ourselves into, we traveled to the slums in a riksha with Latha and our new friends, Tory and Chelsea. People stared and smiled as we walked through the narrow streets between the structures. I don’t know quite how to describe the buildings. For visualization purposes, think of Slumdog Millionaire-style structures stacked on top of each other. We entered a room (about 15 ft by 15 ft) filled with 40 to 50 children. The children’s excitement was contagious as they stood up to greet the “aunties and uncles” that were coming to teach them. To be honest, I felt like a celebrity. They all wanted to shake our hands. We sang some songs with them and did hand motions so that they would understand the words. “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!” The children’s voice echoed throughout the slums for all to hear. Each one of them exemplified a passionate desire to understand the words that escaped our lips. I was intrigued by the amount of joy and respect they possessed. It was truly heart-warming. There were 3 different levels with rooms like this in the school. Each level had a new set of children that were progressively older until we reached the top level, which appeared to have 12 and 13 year olds. Here, Tory told the children a story out of Luke 4 where JC overcame the temptation of the evil one. Latha asked the children if they had any questions or doubts; however, none of the children spoke up. Somehow we all still got the impression that they had doubts. This, of course, is expected. Tomorrow, when we return, we hope to share with them the greatest love story ever told, the story of our Father’s love for mankind. Please continue to pray for these children. Pray that their minds are opened to the news being brought to them and that their hearts are prepared for the love of JC.

Grace and Peace.