By Sue Henderson - Team member extraordinaire!
We are sitting down right now planning out what we are going to do tomorrow with the children from Warancha. Today was our first day there and it was wonderful to spend the day with the kids but it was overwhelming in many ways. We are seven people and we encountered about 400 children. If you are any good at math, you can figure out the numbers were not in our favor! We planned last night for quite a while but we were not fully prepared for the numbers we encountered. Our minds and reality were not on the same page. Now we know what to expect and we are talking to be better prepared for tomorrow. Our hearts are definitely in the right place. The kids have touched us in many ways and we want to be there for them and bless them in this time we have together. What we have determined is that we need more structure. Every minute has to be planned out. Having said that here is what we did today…
We got up early and met for breakfast at 7:00 leaving the hotel at 8:00, arriving at Warancha at 8:30. We were swarmed by the kids. Then the children came out with the teachers and very nicely sat in rows, quietly. Alex introduced us one at a time and had the children repeat our names. This went well until he introduced Doug and all the kids said “Hello Dougie”. Needless to say, he is now Dougie to us! We (the Firje) then sang songs and attempted with our best effort to teach them the words. Fortunately, they already new Chick A Boom, Chick A Boom, which is what we started with. These children love to sing. We sang the Banana song and then taught a Bible story about how God made the children of the world, and how he loves us all. Dougie did the narration of this story and he did a really good job! After doing this we had a game called “In it to Win It”. We had two teams (a guys team and a girls team of about 5 kids each) and they all had an Oreo. They placed the Oreo on their forehead and the object was to get it into their mouths without using their hands. The kids loved it! They probably loved the Oreo too! It was great fun listening the cheering and watching the concentration on their faces!
After that we took the kids back into their classrooms. Warancha has classes for Pre-K through 3rd grade. Neda took the youngest kids along with Zach. Jaimie took the next level, with Marie, Dougie and Judy taking the older kids. I had no responsibility for individual kids as I am the recorder of the mission. Sounds easy, but it was a real struggle today. The classrooms were more controlled chaos though the second grade class has 60 kids in it! Imagine 60 kids in ONE classroom!
After this we went back outside and attacked the soccer field. The girls took on the boys with all the Frije playing except Judy and me. Dougie has no mercy. Winning is everything to him, even if it means taking out little kids (at least that is how he talks!). In reality, the only people he tried to take out were his fellow frije!! I was impressed with the talent level all around. The girls did a great job and held their own, doing very well! While the teams were playing the other kids stood behind a wooden fence and cheered on their teams. When a respective team scored the bystanders yelled and jumped in excitement. After each score the players rotated out and new players came in. One of the teachers joined in the fun (she played for the girls side) and she was quite a good player! I was proud of my fellow Frije. They managed to stay on the field and remain standing the whole time without collapsing from exhaustion!
And then we broke for lunch… The kids leave at noon to go home to eat so we went out to eat. Another amazing restaurant with another awesome meal! After lunch, and some revitalizing we returned for the afternoon. We started back in the classrooms coloring pictures. The hope was that this would take a while but it was done in no time at all. While this was taking place I was going from classroom to classroom and taking pictures. This was becoming increasingly more difficult as my entrance was always a distraction. The kids just wanted their pictures taken and would not take no for an answer. The lack of communication did not help! The more I asked them to wait, the more they pulled and pulled on me to get my attention. There was frustration for all involved. I was frustrated because I was getting pulled in all directions (literally) and they were frustrated because I was not taking their pictures fast enough! Good news is this team is such a good group of people that I could vent my frustrations tonight and explain my reasoning and now I feel better. Part of the equation is that these children come from a background so different from ours that it is hard to understand fully where the other is coming from. They have nothing and have had to beg and plead for all they have. They do not give up easily. I, on the other hand, am use not use to being pulled on and pushed on to get my way. At times I finally put my camera away and walked away from the fray because the constant shoving was unmanageable. Then of course I would feel guilty and try again. By the end of the day I was exhausted and had nothing left to give. I have spent the better part of the evening in silent prayer asking for forgiveness and for patience and for understanding. I love these children and I want to give to them. I want to take their pictures and give them the pleasure of seeing what they look like. I want to honor their wishes and honor my pledge to God to give to them. I want to see joy on their faces and let them know they are loved.
And so I leave you tonight and ask for your prayers. Prayers for patience. For peace. For strength to give unconditionally and to persevere and they did today. Prayers for the children of Warancha to find joy in life and to learn the love of Christ. Prayers for our team for rest. I love you all.
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