All the Children of the World

For the past two days I've been hanging out with the children of El Salvador. For me, this is stepping out of my comfort zone. I'm not good with children, but here, it's different. I can't speak their language, and they can't speak mine, but they try to understand me, and I try to understand them. We're equally curious about each other.

Yesterday, I went to a school to hand out toothbrushes and toothpaste. When we arrived, all the children started yelling and screaming. They were just soo excited! I made sure to shake a lot of the children's hands, and, in my broken Spanish, ask for their name. One little girl wouldn't let go of my arm, and I had to pry her off of me. It was adorable.

We said a few words about ourselves, sang and danced (which I think was just so they could make fun of the Americans), and presented the gospel. We think about 25 kids accepted Jesus. How awesome is that?

They got into lines and we just gave them a toothbrush and a small tube of toothpaste, but they couldn't have been more grateful. Sure, just like any child, they want a different color, or a different design, but they were grateful, nonetheless.

Today, we went to a suburb of Chalchuapa, Buneo Vista. It’s one of the poorer areas around here, and that was certainly evident in the long line of people who lined up for the free clinic. While some people from our team went to evangelize, Bailey and I stayed back and played with the children. You think they would understand Uno, but after about an hour of trying to teach them, I just let them lay down cards and throw dirt all over them.

After awhile, I realized that a lot of the children didn’t know their colors. With the Uno deck, we practiced rojo, azul, verde, and amarillo. These children weren’t little either. The youngest was five, and the oldest who I was teaching was ten. I tried to teach them their numbers (0-9), but they lost interest, so we went back to colors.

 

We did another children’s program today too. Clowns and everything in the sweltering heat. I wasn’t a clown this time, but I got to sit with a little girl named Betsy. She was the cutest little thing. Five years old, but so tiny! When the girls broke the piñata, she was running all over the place, happy as can be. It melts my heart.

As I'm writing this, I realize we only have three more days of work here. I can't imagine leaving this place; especially leaving knowing I might not ever return. It's amazing how deep friendships can become in a few short days, not only with the people of Chalchuapa, but with the people of my team also. No cultural barriers at work.

Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.