All the Children of the World (South Asia 6)

“Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

So goes the ever-popular children's song speaking of Jesus' deep love for children. We had the wonderful opportunity of truly experiencing that love and joy firsthand in South Asia.

We went to a school in the slums that provides food and a education for young kids from the slums.

I don't know the name of the school/organization or too many specifics of what they do with the kids, but they provide the kids with at least some schooling, as well as bread and soymilk. I'm pretty sure they make the soymilk themselves.

My initial expectation after being told we were going to visit the slums was that we'd see incredible and intense poverty and leave probably feeling overwhelmed and maybe even a bit frustrated by the enormity of the issue and a feeling there was nothing we could really do to alleviate it. This was not the case.

There was so much joy in that school.

I mean first of all, the kids were just adorable, as little kids generally are. It was such a blessing to interact with them, to play games and sing songs.

We first went to their little school house, just one small room with one window letting in a little light. They stood in a semi-circle and sang us a song in Bengali or Hindi (I'm never sure which one, but those are the two languages people generally speak, other than English). Then we got to sing them a song. We did Father Abraham, stomping and clapping, shaking arms and legs, spinning around.

The kids filed out of the school house over to the kitchen next door. They sat in two rows on the patio to await their daily bread and soymilk. For a few awkward moments we weren't sure what to do, but then a few of us sat down on the ground with them and tried to (in very poor Hindi) ask their names and attempted to share our own. I think most of the kids spoke Bengali, because they just looked at us and didn't respond!

It didn't matter that we couldn't talk to each other though, little kids are easily entertained and quick to smile and laugh. With some clapping, smiling, and sunglasses, we were soon playing with the kids.

They loved our cameras. Arik and I both had ours, and the kids absolutely loved to see their picture on the screen! Their faces would light up as they laughed. Two little boys I sat down beside just stared at me as I snapped their photo, until I showed them the image of themselves, they wouldn't stop smiling after that!

We handed out their bread and soymilk – two slices of white bread and a glass of warm milk in a metal cup. It was crazy to think that might be one of the only meals they got that day. It definitely put my own life into perspective a bit. I'm blessed to have so much.

We kept hanging out with the kids for awhile. It was honestly so neat to connect with and love on those kids, even though we spoke different languages and came from completely different worlds. Love truly is a universal language, and little kids love clapping and guessing games more than anything.

Their laughter and smiles were so beautiful. Honestly they were some of the most beautiful, joy-filled children I've gotten to play with. It was so simple. Sunglasses and the “guess which hand has something in it” game made them so happy.

I know in the long run we didn't change their lives in the sense that we got these children out of poverty. Whether we'd been there that day or not, they would still have gotten to eat and go to school. But we still got to show them some of Jesus' love for that morning. We still got to show that we cared. And we got to experience the simple joy of Jesus' love through them as well.

We got to see Christ's heart for the little children, and the purity of a child's happiness in a laugh and a smile.