Tuesday, June 7th

Jameson Barker (in place of Susan because there was no Internet last night)

Today was an amazing day! Today was the day that we hung out with all the kids at FOCUS for the entire day! This morning Scott opened the day with a devotion covering the last part of Matthew 25. Here is a little excerpt from those verses...

"Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’"

This was especially true of today! Christ commanded us to love the least, to clothe the naked, and feed the hungry. This is what this day was all about! We had the whole day to hug, play with, and love on these 52 kids that are in the FOCUS program. What a joy! In today's culture, especially in the US these kids would be viewed as the least. Many times, we would just walk by them on the streets and not think anything about them. What a travesty on our behalf! These kids are just the same as us in God's sight and they deserve no less love than we get as Americans.

Scott told us that most the kids only have one parent in the home or they live with close relatives. Those who are in charge of the household (i.e. mother, grandparents, etc.) spend over 10 hours in the day trying to find work or working to be able to provide for their kids. Can you imagine that? That is the very reason why these kids desire to be loved so much. When their parent or guardian gets home from working, they are exhausted and don't have the energy to love on their kids. Now, I know that seems crazy to us in America but it is the culture here. If you spent most of your day trying to find work to feed your kids and then came home with nothing because there was no work, you would be exhausted too (especially after doing that for multiple days in a row).

The kids at FOCUS are so incredibly grateful! We did a day full of VBS type activities. We started off the morning with just hanging out and playing with them. Then we played a game of 3-legged races which they loved! Debbie Jo lead a craft time after that where the kids made foam animals out of pieces of foam and Popsicle sticks. They loved it! They don't get these amenities very often (if ever) so when they do, it is awesome! After the craft, it was time for lunch. They ate and so did we. We have boxed lunches from Heart House everyday that we share with our FOCUS workers that we are partnered with. In the boxes is chicken which is a delicacy to them. After lunch we played a game of "Silly Mwhili" which means silly body (aka the hokey pokey). Then we had a time of sharing a Bible story.

The students and some of the team members acted out the story of David and Goliath. Isak Morehous was Goliath and one of the FOCUS kids was David (with the help of Christian). Part of the story was the five smooth stones which we used marshmallows for. They never get to taste or eat marshmallows so this was fun for them as well. Many of them put them in their pockets to take home to give to siblings. This broke my heart because even in their situations, they are still thinking of others and sharing what they only get a little of. What a challenge to us in America to share the wealth that we experience every day!

After the Bible story, we had time for one more craft and made little pipe cleaner people with beads and pipe cleaners. After this, it was playing time. We had about 45 minutes left so we just played with and loved on the kids.

Once we were done, we went packed up and loaded up and headed for home. Last night we packed all 1000 Project Lucas backpacks. It took about 2 hours with everyone helping and then most of us crashed pretty hard. This day was a day of blessings for all of us on this team!

The daily verse reminds me of my responsibility (and our responsibility) as a Christian to love and cherish everyone I come in contact with. There is not one person on the face of this planet that does not deserve my love and care. That is hard to swallow when we think about people we don't like or people who we don't agree with, but it is very true. So, my question to you today is who do you need to love on today? How do you need to get out of your comfort zone and help those in need that you know? Do you need to stop and give food to the homeless man on the interstate ramp? Do you need to go to downtown New Albany and love on homeless kids? Do you need to work in a youth shelter? Where is God calling you to serve what culture would call "the least of these"?