a Day to Remember.

An early morning , 6am, welcomed our day to what we thought would be a long, involved day at the project. As we were walking up the hill, it was an all too familiar sound, “Wazungu, howayu?!” echoed from the 10 x 20 tin shanty off the road by the church. Little Ester and Steven were waving as high as their little hands could reach. On most days, we give a big smile and greetings back but normally have to continue on our walk to the church. On this day, I wanted to greet them at their home. We walked to the shanty, and found not only Ester and Steven, but as we walked toward the doorway, 1, 2, 3, and then 12 kids appeared. Yes, this family has 12 kids who all live in a 10 x 20 shanty. These kids have the most beautiful presence about them. Each one serving the other and as we handed out cookies, they each made sure to pass it along to the one younger than them. We have yet to meet the Mom and Dad and they were out for the day, but a 12 year old came out holding a 6mo. And was the “mom” of all the rest- Whew, I wanted to stay there all day. They don’t really speak a lick of English so the conversation grows short real quick. After lots of precious hugs, we continued on to the church. Little Ester and Steven shortly welcomed us later with their water jugs in hand, getting ready to begin their 10 time trek of collecting water for the family.

We were suppose to have Chai with a Muslim guy who works at the site, but he was no where to be found. And we now know why. As we were waiting for him to show, just in front of the slum is a playing field where kids bring their homemade trash soccer balls and play their hearts out. We were blessed to have the privilege of meeting so many kids coming from the woodworks. John’s Mom came out to greet us, holding Bryan and I sat down with little Joyce for the entire time. Ester sat down her water jugs and nestled beside me as well. As I look up, I see John, Steven, and many others who hold labor some responsibilities daily—laughing, playing, and for once I saw the child inside them shining thru every kick of the ball--this is why we are here--not to just build a soccer field for the sake of playing soccer, but to offer a place of refuge for kids to come, sheltered away from the 'storm' and embraced by men and women who will invest in their lives and share Christ with them daily. It was a moment to remember to see these little ones truly having fun.We came back to the church to tend to the work and little John and Francis wanted to come be our helpers- wouldn’t leave our side until we left at 6pm. We did runs with them on the field and you could just feel their joy of having someone focus so much attention on them. I sat there watching Brett love on them so consistently and said days like these will tenderize our hearts when we have to leave this context. 

So, it was a precious day to remember being loved on in the slums.