We finished a long and hard week of SLAM, only to rush into buses onto our next location. We were given amazing lunches that filled the hunger in our stomachs after a long week of service, and then off to a long drive to a rural village near Jinja, Uganda.
We arrive in the village around 11:30pm, and were instantly met with a loud and welcoming church service. We worshipped together, singing songs from 3 different regions of the world… and then did a time of testimony from the interns that are on summer internship. They shared heartfelt testimonies full of what God was teaching them, and the church received it so well.
Skip forward a little bit in time to the next day. We were walking back from the football game and I was given the responsibility of organizing a VBS time for all of the kids that came to the church.
I walked outside the church to be met eye to eye with around 70 kids, just staring at me and silently begging that I would do something to stop the deep hunger they showed in their eyes and felt in their bellies.
I checked with the kitchen, and they told us they had enough food for all of the kids to eat lunch with us. So, I had my team come together and grab some mats that all of the kids could sit on in groups.
Me, Gerron, Emily and others all got together tried our best to make a dignifying experience for these kids to have a meal together. I know that in Romans 12, it says go “contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality”.
These kids were apart of the church,but most importantly they were Gods kids. And, it was our responsibility to be hospitable to them, to feed them and create an environment where they were cared for, loved and seen.
I have never seen someone eat so fast in my entire life. The second I would turn around to check on the kids after they finished their plate, it would be completely empty. And their eyes just yearned for me.
I felt thankful to be able to give them food in that moment, but everything in me wanted to break down and cry because I could not give them more.
So I took a second and prayed, and then came back to my group. I remembered what was more important than feeding them, and that is being an example to them of someone who had the light of God in them, and gods word flowing out of them.
After feeding them, our group did a fun skit and bible lesson of the story of Abraham and the 3 visitors in Genesis. Esther explained to them how important it is to be someone who is hospitable to any visitor or stranger that comes into their community.
So just as we were being hospitable to these kids in action, we all re-emphasized our point through Gods word.
Our time with these kid was short, but I believe that God used it to teach these kids a valuable lesson of how to treat visitors within their community.