On a hot, dry day my students and I arrived at the Mas Que Vencedores (More than Conquerors) Orphanage in El Crucero. Armed with balls, goodies, and nervousness, we met six preschool children. Some had disabilities, other troubled pasts, but all had big smiles.
For the next hour, I watched as my children did what we had talked about countless times in class: put love in action.
We let the preschoolers rest and went to visit a 4th grade classroom filled with neighborhood students and some children from the orphanage. We shared two skits with the whole group, then split into smaller groups to share testimonies and pray for one another.
I was so proud of my students. Public speaking is scary. Sharing from your heart is scary. A month ago, this wouldn't have happened. Most of them didn't even know what a testimony was or how to pray for people they had never met. When I first told them about our service project, I knew that a lot of preparation work would need to go into it. In class, I started by talking about what testimonies are and sharing the gospel message. We talked about knowing the difference between simply knowing about God and giving our hearts to him and committing to follow him. My students had so many questions! When they were ready, they made outlines of their testimonies, followed by rough drafts, corrected drafts, parent-approved drafts, and finally, translated final products. Next came practicing. They started by reading their testimonies in small groups and finished with telling their stories like it was a normal conversation. It took many days for them to get comfortable sharing aloud and to get over the urge to just read it from their paper.
We focused on prayer next. Weeks before we left on the service project, we decided the purpose of our trip was to show love to the kids at the orphanage and the 4th graders at the school. So I asked my students how we could start loving them before we even got there. I was met with blank stares. After some brainstorming, they decided that praying for them would be a good way to love them. Next I asked how we could pray for these kids that we had never met. More blank stares. After some prodding, my students realized the kids we were going to meet would be very similar to them. They go to school, have friends, and have problems, just like we all do. After that, it became easy to think of how to pray for them.
We left the 4th graders at the school with pencils, notebooks, and scissors that were purchased by my students, and then headed back to eat a snack with the little preschoolers.
I enjoyed this moment. My students realized that something simple, like a juice box, can bring joy. Loving others doesn't have to be complicated. Sharing. Sitting with someone new. Sharing a laugh. Holding the trash bag. All can be love in action.
I am not sure who benefited the most from the day's encounters: the preschoolers, the fourth graders, my students, or me.
We have had a good year in 4th grade, but have had some rocky patches along the way. My students have realized that it is not always easy to love each other. Difficult people can be difficult to love. Our friends can be difficult to love. People who are different than us can be difficult to love. Leaving the school grounds with the sole purpose to love was what we needed as a class. The reality check was also beneficial. My students, like all of us, like me, forget that
so many have
so little.
We are currently working on changing our mentality in the classroom. Everyday when we walk into the classroom, we walk into our mission field, our daily "service project". We talked about how we wished we could visit the orphanage everyday, but obviously we can't. Instead, God has given us a classroom where we spend seven hours with people who we are called to love.
I am praying that my students will love each other like I saw them love the children at the orphanage. I want God's love to shine through them. I want God's love to shine through me.
Love in Action
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
