Yesterday, the kids in my group accepted Jesus as their Savior!!! I can hardly describe how happy my heart is! Unfortunately though...for reasons I don't know, I wasn't there when it happened. I know! Of all times I had to miss, I missed the time my group became Christians!! What happened was that over the past few days I had been developing a cold. I decided to leave the group just before the morning lesson and rest. I went to one of the cleared out classrooms where we were keeping all of our supplies and curled up on the floor. There, I slept for a few hours. When I woke up I had a few sweatshirts draped over me. (such a nice yet probably unsanitary act of kindness) I got up and found Sarah, my team leader, to see what had happened since I had been asleep. She said, "Well....your whole group accepted Christ!" My mouth dropped. I was ecstatic and then suddenly disappointed that I wasn't there to witness it...however, the happiness still overshadowed the feeling that I missed out. I returned to my group a few minutes later. I looked for a change in them and to my surprise I saw it! It was subtle, but I could tell there was a softness about their eyes that wasn't there before. Their smiles seemed bigger and were displayed more freely. I knew as I looked at each of them that they had changed. The Lord had changed them.
Soon after I got there it was time for lunch, so we headed back to the school building to line up. My group member, Candice, came up to me and told me that they had all prayed for me, the kids included. I was delighted and thanked her. I did feel much better. Praise be to God! One boy named Kelvin, who until this point had been slightly distant, came up to me twice and asked me, "Amanda, how do you feel? How are you doing?" My heart surged with gladness as I told him how much better I was feeling.
I went to lunch yesterday on top of the world. Even now, I smile and think, "Look! Look what the Lord has done!!" But that wasn't even all that happened! Later that afternoon we asked the group how they knew that God loved them. A boy named Smack said, "I know God loves me because he sent you to tell me about how Jesus died to save me." Katie, Candice, and I just looked at each other in amazement. They get it. I'm blown away.
I most wish now that everyone from home could see these kids. I wish they could see their excitement to learn how to pray...could see how Kelvin, who tries to be so cool, will break out into a beautiful full grin when you smile at him,...or how the girls' faces light up when you encourage them as they learn their memory verses. I wish you all could hear their stories of struggling...how some don't have enough food, how some suffer from malaria, and how others have dealt with losing a mother or father. It's heart breaking. By the time we leave for the day though, we have sung countless songs about how good God is, "OH HE'S SO GOOD!", about how God's love is so powerful and wonderful that it overwhelms us, and about how there is no one, there's no one like Jesus!
My heart rejoices. I don't want to leave.
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