Today, pictures will do most of the talking for me. Let me just say that our kids are fearless in
their love. Not just with the adorable
children who are fun, smiling, and eager to hug and love back, but also with
those who are aged, diseased, impoverished in everything but spirit. Our youth have been unafraid to love, to
accept, and to touch, both spiritually and physically. After singing to a group
of elderly residents at the “infirmary” (nursing home), a small group made the
rounds of some of the wards to sing a few songs to those who were unable to
come to the assembly room. These were
the sickest of the sick, the weak, the truly disabled. Many would find this audience scary or
repulsive. Not these kids!! Our kids approached them with joy, sang
directly to them in their beds with huge smiles on their faces. Several sat on the beds with the residents,
showing God’s love in tangible physical ways.
I saw Colton sit with an elderly man, sing close to him to be sure that he
heard, and put his arm around his shoulder.
As we walked out, Colton said with great enthusiasm, “that was fun!”
--Debby Barto
Whatsoever
you do to the least of these….
A blog post from Katie Beth Jenkins on today....
This morning after pancakes, sausage, bacon, coffee or tea, and of course a fresh banana, We spilt into the same groups as yesterday, my group walked down to the School of Hope, a small school for the deaf and hearing impaired. there were about 20 students and we sang and danced and signed "This Little Light of Mine" and then played with the kids for about 20 minutes. My mom had sent some "scratch magic" samples and I left them with the kids. The kids here love playing with cameras and so we have some fun pictures they they took. Garrison had the great idea to use his phone and type to one of the deaf boys and talk to him. We loved getting to sing and play with the kids this morning. After the other half of the group came to pick us up, we went to another school.
At the Norwich Primary School they sang to us. A little girl named Dominique sang solos on a few of the songs and Emily describes her as "a little Shirley Temple" and CByrd called her a "Jamaican Taylor Wood" she has a huge voice and great stage presence (or in CByrd terms, "swag.") They sang a few songs and then we sang a few for them. The girls all loved playing with our hair and pretty much all of us got our hair braided by the girls (some of them even stole a strand or two "to remember us by"). Emily, Molly and I sang Father Abraham and "This Little Light" with the girls and they taught us one of their songs very similar to Father Abraham and we danced and played. Sadly, they had to go back to class, and we had to go to work. Their graduation ceremony is on Sunday so to make their grounds look nice, we picked up trash, repainted, and Colton even planted a little garden! One of the teachers brought us some fresh bananas and kool-aid for a quick snack as we worked. After class they came back out to play, and Blayne, Blakely and I helped the kids with their "cheer leading." we picked up almost every girl and put her into a small pyramid. They loved it.
But we had to leave the kids and go back to the church for lunch. We gave some of them our addresses and all of them a big hug and boarded the bus. After a lunch of jerk chicken, festival, saltfish, and watermelon at the church, we all took a little power nap in the sanctuary. Lulled to sleep by the refreshing sound of a cooling rain. Then we piled on the bus and headed off to the Infirmary.
The Infirmary here is pretty much a nursing home, and we sang our full program for them as well as a few other songs also. Molly, Emily and Christian (Byrd) played and sang "I'll Fly Away" and they loved it! They loved having us there singing about our love for Christ and they sang along with us for quite a few of the songs.
After the infirmary, we went back to church to await dinner. Some of us napped again, others played games or sang some more but mostly, we tried to do this ninja-esque push-up (courtesy of The Alan Jewel) that uses pretty much only your lower back. Much o his dismay, Ethan could never get it. Once we had all had a good workout, showing off how many push-ups we can (or can't) do, we went into the fellowship hall and had lasagna, garlic bread, pineapple and some more amazing banana bread (I really love the food here. Especially the fresh fruit!)
At last we returned to The Palace where we either swam or showered off all the dirt and sweat from today. Today was one of the hottest days, but also one of the most rewarding, being out and about with so many people. Dancing and singing and making new friends, this has been my favorite day.
I've had a great time so far and I loved being asked to write today's blog post. -Katie Beth Jenkins
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