Universal Love and Joy

March 14, 2018

If you pay attention around here, you'll find there are subtle and not so subtle differences between being in a country like Ethiopia and the United States. Buildings are constructed differently, people greet each other differently, driving patterns vary. The list goes on and on.

However, if we were to really pay attention, you would notice that we are more similar than different.

Today, we again spent time at each of the care points. The first stop was CHDA, which has mostly younger kids, most under the age of 10. Meserete Kristos is the care point with the kids we've spent most of our time with going back to 2009. They're older, most of them are in high school. A couple of them are now enrolled in a college or university.

The routine at the care point this week is to give the kids a Bible story, then simultaneously deliver care packages from sponsor families, let the kids do a craft, and give them a rec opportunity. Today they made masks out of paper plates for their craft and played a bunch of different games outside. It was a little chaotic, especially since our team is so small. During the last half hour, we all gathered outside and had a free for all.

It's been a long time since I've seen so much joy at one time. Imagine six adults and two teenagers surrounded by the laughing, energetic, and unbridled enthusiasm of 100+ children. Michael and Ty were playing keep away by tossing a green squishy ball back and forth. There were at least twenty kids running back and forth between them, climbing on them as they tried to get the ball. Michael went down at one point, only to come up with kids still hanging from his shoulders, arms, and legs. Not being as big as Michael, Ty was quicker to throw the ball to Michael when the kids started to be too much. The laughter was infectious.

I started my time outside by taking pictures of the kids with their masks. They were very excited to see themselves, so there was always a mad scramble to see the photos after they were taken. We then graduated to group hugs (with me picking them up and spinning them). Then, somehow, I was on the ground with them climbing all over me, with me lifting them over my shoulders, tickling them as I set them on the ground. Finally, we started playing thumb wars. Of course their thumbs were much smaller than mine, so it was more of them playing keep away with their thumb while mine tried to pin down their wiggling digit.

What was so fantastic about this time was that it didn't matter that none of us understood a word of what the other was saying. It didn't matter that next week I'll go home to a life of comfort while they go home to a small, cramped dark room not knowing where there next meal will come from. The important thing was our shared desire to have fun with each other, to laugh with each other, and to love each other. At the end of the day, the kids who were so tentative yesterday were giving us hugs and kisses and heartfelt good-byes. Love and joy are universal. We need it, we desire it, and most of us exhibit it.

The teenagers at Meserte Kristos have a much different vibe. While they were the exuberant youth just a few years ago, now they are more reserved. They're too cool to get excited about care packages, answer the questions being asked during Bible study, or to volunteer for an activity.

This afternoon, we put together the same program that we did in the morning. However, the Bible lesson was modified for the older crowd. We then did the same triad of care packages, crafts, and rec. However, we provided no additional structure, allowing them to do what they wanted. I was working with care packages, so didn't see how crafts and rec were going, but it sounded like things went well with the kids actively participating. You could tell that the kids were interested in the letter and the photos, but expressed it in a way that didn't give away too much of their emotion. There were brief smiles but if you weren't looking you missed it.

Again, there was thirty minutes after the distribution of bread and bananas for free time. Again, this is when the mood changed. One of the girls was playing music on a speaker, trying to encourage the others to dance. Some girls retreated to one of the corners and were whispering "amongst themselves", occasionally giggling and pulling in tighter. A group of boys were in the courtyard kicking soccer balls. One of the girls seemed to have taken an interest in Michael and had been hanging around him a lot the last two days. We told her that he already has a girlfriend, after which she showed a huge look of disappointment. Several of the kids with whom I'd gotten to know over the years, sought me out to say goodbye for the day and give me a hug. Our sponsored daughter asked if Lori was going to return. I told her that she wanted to come back but wasn't able to at the moment. Her response was gracious, saying that she wished Lori well and that she couldn't wait to see her.

Teenagers are an interesting breed, and the teens here certainly showed the same types of behaviors exhibited by our own teens; disinterest and nonchalance, but also care, joy and love.

We are all different in so many ways. In our country, many are expressing those differences in ways that divide us. However, despite our differences, we all have more in common than we want to believe. We have common traits. Deep down we are all the same, formed by the same God, and should be united as we navigate our lives together so far apart, but so close together.