I would have never guessed what an impact this outreach would have on my life or the opportunities God would provide for me through this.
When I was in 8th grade I tutored kids at the Tucker Street Apartments, but we had to stop doing that for various reasons. And that was really hard for me because I loved working with those kids! So during my junior year in high school when the opportunity arose for me to get to start tutoring the kids at Beaumont, I jumped on it.
The first night was definitely something to remember (LOL). I had an idea of what we were getting ourselves into because I had worked with the Tucker Street kids before, but my youth pastor had absolutely no idea. I knew going into the first night that we would have a good 20 or more kids (because the parents would like the free babysitting and getting the kids out of the house for a few hours), while my youth pastor was expecting for us to start out with about 5 kids.
About 35 kids showed up the first night.
Slightly more than I expected, and absolutely blew my youth pastor's mind.
We had NO clue what we were really getting ourselves into...
But God did.
We started out just tutoring the kids once a week and then bringing them to church to our normal children's program on Wednesday nights. But then when the kids got out of school and we stop our children's program during the summer, our ministry grew into much more.
Through the local school system, during the summer while the kids were out of school, we were able to go by the cafeterias and get bag lunches for the kids, bring them to Beaumont and pass them out to all the kids. Because like most communities in the United States, these kids go hungry unless the school system provides food. So we began going to the Beaumont Apartments every single day for the entire summer, to pass out food and just hang out with the kids.
Towards the end of the summer we did a two day Vacation Bible School there on sight at the community. This VBS is still some of the best couple of days of my life. We were able to get all the kids together, sing songs with them, dance around and act crazy, play games, split into small groups, and present the Gospel straight up to these kids (and even some of their parents). Since we were just outside in the parking lot, we were able to get to know some of the parents of the kids and other adults from the community which was an awesome ministry opportunity. One night me and a couple of girls did sign language to Kirk Franklin's song "Lean on Me" and I have never felt the presence of God like I did in that moment. At that moment everything was dead silent and it had nothing to do with "us" and "them", but the fact that we are all children of God in need of a Savior.
On the second night of VBS we were able to provide each child with a new backpack full of school supplies along with a new "back to school" outfit and shoes. So much work was put into that project, but every single second was completely worth it knowing that these kids were prepared to go back to school.
During the crazy process of getting all the supplies and sorting/shopping for all the clothes and shoes, I realized that this is what I absolutely LOVE to do. Getting all the kids' sizes, going out and shopping for them, sorting everything, making sure we had not forgotten any child- I could not have been any happier. I realized in those moments that this was what I was called to do. This tasks seemed so simple to me, but brought so much joy. I was not working for the church to give me a "pat on the back" but I was working to provide these kids with things they normally would not have, and ultimately I was working, hoping that these kids/parents would come back and ask me or any of our leaders why we do what we do- and we could tell them about Jesus. That is what it is all about. I found so much joy in this project because I was working for Jesus and wanting nothing more than to glorify Him in everything.
After the VBS we started bringing the kids back to our church and doing a program specifically for them. We play games, eat, and get into the Word of God, teaching these kids about Jesus. Now don't get me wrong, I love these children to the moon and back, but they can be a pain sometimes- well honestly most of the time. But I would not want to spend my Tuesday nights with anyone else! These kids are my joy and being with them is the only place I want to be.
This past week I was inside the church when the kids pulled up in the vans and got out to play on the playground. So when I started to walk up about 6 girls came running to the fence yelling my name, waiting for me to walk into the playground.
As soon as I walked through the gate,
one little girl-
who had recently moved out of the apartment complex so had not been able to come with us,
who quite frankly got on my nerves- came running up to me and jumped into my arms (which is a normal occurrence with most of these kids). So i caught her, held her, and asked where she had been, what she had been up to, etc.
The little girl, who's name is Amiya, did not want to go run around and play on the playground, but instead just wanted me to stand and hold her. She just wanted nothing more than in that moment to be held and have my undivided attention. Naturally I could have put her down (being my arms were getting tired) and gone to talk to other kids, but in that moment I knew I just needed to hold her. Sometimes that is all these kids really need, someone to show them what love looks like.
Amiya then puts her hands around my neck and head on my shoulder after telling me she had been sick, so I knew she was tired and did not feel good.
So I just stood there holding her.
She then leans up and I figured she was about to want to get down and play, but instead, she looks at me and sneezes.
All over me.
Then puts her head right back down.
But instead of freaking out and thinking about how gross that is and how I am going to get sick,
My literal first thought was:
"I am so blessed. I don't think it is possible to love these children anymore than I already do. I can not believe God has picked me to be able to work with this ministry."
After I just stood there in awe of God's blessing and the opportunities He has given me to work with these kids, I simply replied "Bless you" and then almost as like an after thought and nonchalantly, I thought "This girl literally just sneezed all over me.... hopefully I won't get sick"
This was the moment I knew I was called into ministry.
We then went inside and continued on with the night. While they were eating she called me over because she wanted to sit on my lap. So she's sitting on my lap, eating her hot dog, and drinking her juice box when she misses her mouth and like half a carton of apple juice goes all over my pants.
But in that moment, I could care less.
They are just pants, they can be washed, it is no big deal.
These are the moments I live for.
The moments when God gives me patience with these kids.
The moments when God shows me how much He loves me by how much I love these kids (& that is ultimately because Christ has loved me first!)
Ministry is messy. Ministry never goes "as planned" because God will ALWAYS wreck our plans in order to make them HIS plans. If the ministry I serve in isn't messy, then I want no part. Our goal is to show these kids the love of Jesus, and ultimately for them to have a relationship with Him. And whatever it takes for God to get us there, then lets do it!
If it takes spilled juice boxes and being covered by sneezes for kids to see Jesus, then bring 'em on!
