Important

We walk up to the Site, unlock the main fence, then the front door.  We walk in, put our lunch cooler, backpacks, and water bottles down.  We open the back door and the window blinds.  We pull out our schedules and sit around the table. 

As we pray for the new day and share testimonies, we start to hear giggles.  Standing in the doorway, poking heads up by the windows, little ones come.  Another day has started in El Callejon.

Frani, one of our daily visitors

Why do these kids come day after day?  We don’t have video games or television.  We aren’t giving them money or other stuff.  We aren’t feeding them.  Okay, the last one isn’t exactly true.  A bit of chocolate, a piece of gum, or a lollypop sometimes finds its way into their hands (and mouths!).  But, that’s not the reason they want to spend the whole day with us.

Why then? 

Because, the students pay attention to them.  Even without a lot of Spanish, the students try and talk with them, they play with them, they pick them up and swing them around, they cuddle, they laugh, they are happy to see them.  Such small, simple things. 

But, for kids whose moms don’t understand parenting beyond giving some food and clothes, whose dads are either absent or ignore them, this love and attention draws them to come, day after day.  

Sometimes people look at the cost of a short-term mission trip and think that the money would be better invested if it was just sent on.  There may be ministries where this is appropriate.  But, for us, it’s impossible to show the love Jesus without being here.

God showed us how important we are to Him by sending His Son to live among us. His feet got dirty walking dusting roads.  His hands full of germs touching diseased and leprous people.  The sun beat down on His head, He became tired and thirsty.  He moved from place to place, reaching out, teaching, loving, present with those He came to save. 

Immanuel.  God-with-us.  In His coming, in His being not just FOR us, but WITH us, we are transformed.  In our transformation, we are able to reach out with His love.  Watching the faces of the little ones of El Callejon light up as the students play with them, we see the possibility of transformation.  In the students’ love, we see the love of God-with-us.    

When Jesus left, He commanded us to go out into the world.  To be a part of God-with-us through the power of the Holy Spirit.  We are humbled and blessed that these young women accepted God’s invitation, God’s command, to come and share God-with-us in El Callejon.

As we said goodbye to Charity, Sarah and Shelby last night, we paraphrased the familiar Forest Whitcraft quote:

A hundred years from now it will not matter what kind of car you drove, the house you lived in, how big your bank account was, even what your major was.  But, El Callejon, the Dominican Republic, and maybe even the world, may be different, may be a little better, because you were important in the life of Vanessa and Katherine and Gabriel and Frani.

We praise God for bringing students willing to come and be important in the lives of the people of El Callejon.  When students come and play with the little ones, share their stories, their love for Jesus, they let the precious people of El Callejon know that they, too, are important.  Important to us, but most of all, important and beloved of God.  And that has the potential to change the world.