pencils.

4.1.08

“The LORD JESUS said himself, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35

 

            This morning we all loaded into our van. Yes, our van. Good-bye to frequent rides on boda bodas and pushy taxi drivers. The LORD has provided and ICY has a van! It certainly got a work out driving up and down the dirt roads over steep hills. The broken cement and deep potholes in the dirt create a pathway that resembles a black-diamond, mogul-covered trail at a ski resort. With several packs of pencils in a bag, we arrived in Banda to lead songs and games at a small school. The two classrooms which made up the school were small and crowded with children. The structure of the building was made of cement and wooden panels, with large gaps in between the beams. The classrooms were divided from one another by a wall which seemed to be constructed of tightly woven straw-like material. While it was dark inside, the smiles of the children were bright, and they waved and clapped to get our attention.

            The first classroom had several posters hung on the walls, and letters of the alphabet strung on colorful paper across the room. The younger children were just finishing their snack when Billy, Jen, Wilson, Sam, Jed, Laura, Collin, and I dispersed ourselves among the children sitting on wooden benches. This was the first time ICY had visited this school, which had been operating for only two years, with about 120 children enrolled. In a wing off the building lived a widowed woman who allowed the children to meet there. We all introduced ourselves, and Sam began to play his guitar to teach some songs. We sang in English and Luganda, clapping and dancing with some children as young as three years old. Other children and teachers peered in through the one window and doorway of the classroom, flashing cheerful smiles and swaying their bodies to the beat.

            As we concluded with the songs, we opened our bag of pencils and passed them out to all the students. The children waved their pencils high in the air and chattered excitedly about their gifts. Some of the younger students sitting beside me were very shy and hesitated to grab the pencils from our hand, but I could tell in their eyes how thrilled they were once they tightened their hold on the new pencil.

            When it was time for our group to move to the classroom on the other side of the dividing wall of stripped strands of wood, the children began to wail with disappointment at our departure. Some children had streams of tears falling down their little faces, and I reflected on how meaningful our short session had been to them.

            On the other side of wall, we could still hear the cries of the young students. The second classroom had older children between eight and twelve years old, and I climbed over several benches to sit beside a boy who looked to be about ten. The students were anxious to meet us, and Wilson introduced our team. He asked them to guess the names of each of us, and I whispered the first few names to the boy on my left side so that he could triumphantly shout them out. We sang the same songs that we had just led with the younger kids, and after we would finish a song, the children on the other side of the wall would begin to cry again. I couldn’t help but laugh as one of the children tried to pry her little fingers between the thin pieces of wood to create a space to peer through and watch us. Some of the songs create such a source of energy and enthusiasm for the children, and I felt so blessed to be a part of the joy that was felt throughout the room.

            When we finished singing, we opened another couple packs of pencils and began to pass them out to cheering students. All of them were so anxious to receive the pencils, and held them high into the air upon receiving one.

            As we concluded our session at the tiny school, we thanked the teachers and leaders of the facility. The children were on their tip-toes to wave good-bye to us from the doorways and windows from each classroom, while a few of the youngest ones ran out from the classroom to grab our hands.

            A couple songs and a pencil each… It seems like such a small gesture, but the impact of our time there was so significant to the children. Giving our personal time and a simple writing pencil was a blessing in the eyes of the children, but more- a blessing to me. As I had planned for my time here, I was hoping to be able to help other people by devoting my time and service in the Name of the LORD. What I didn’t expect, however, was to feel more of a blessing in the joy and openness shown by the people of Uganda.

 I wished that I could have presented the children with more than a pencil each, but I am humbled by their appreciation and openness for spending time with our team. I cannot wait to go back and see their smiling faces… and maybe hand out more pencils.