April 5 - Atalie
Come with me for a moment to a white tile room exploding with daylight. Every window and door is open wide, beseeching stray breezes to journey inside. Even though heat is inescapable, there is something about the faces gathered around you that make all else slide into the background. There are 19 of them: soft-eyed and mocha-skinned. They are solemn faces, but a week of time teaching photography to them has proved that there are ways to scale that wall, like complementing one of their pictures and seeing the whole room break into applause. Or by linking eyes with one of them and smiling. Never once have they refused to return the favor. If you can imagine this, you have a feeling for what it was like teaching photography and the promises of God to the 15-18 year olds this week at the orphanage.But today we did something different. I’m smiling behind my camera, waiting for the perfect blend of activity and expressions to frame itself in my lens. Today, the teens are teaching the younger kids (5-14 year olds) and I get to watch it all unfold. I eavesdrop as the young people I’ve begun to know step out of their comfort zones and explain games, teach crafts, and tell stories, relating each activity back to the promise of relationship with God. Every once in a while they spy me and break into shy smiles that fill my heart to overflowing. This is the making of disciples: not just teaching them, but teaching them to teach.I love these kids. They have the potential to become capable leaders; like the ones we have been working with here and met at the prayer breakfast on Wednesday. This country is being reached by its own people, and these people are not afraid. They are focused on one goal, and that is Christ’s name being glorified through their short contributions on this earth. I wonder how many Christians back home live as intentionally?Pray for the teens at the orphanage, that they would grow into the leaders and disciple-makers God can use in the future to turn the country to Himself.Atalie
