On The Other Side

There was a hush inside the church, all that could be heard was the dry wind outside wiping up the African dust. Thirty children all colored ebony, sat quietly, and patiently for us, their eyes were the only things that moved as they followed our every move.

My sisters came over with their arms full of green and red boxes, all taped up with white tape that said, Samaritan's Purse in bold letters. I watched as their eyes grew wide in anticipation, one little girl broke the silence by giggling as Tabitha placed one of the precious boxes into the little girl's tiny hands.
A few moments later, all the children held their boxes on top of their heads in pride, as they started to sing 'Jesus Loves Me.'

My heart instantly became overwhelmed with a joy I had only felt a few times before. Tears found their way down my cheeks as I watched these precious little children sing from their hearts before they even opened the boxes! They were thankful to simply get the box, because just those red and green boxes meant so much. It wasn't what was inside them that made such an impact on them, it was that God was faithful and cared so, so much about each of these beautiful children that he would send them Christmas presents in April.

The next hour or so, was full of laughter, tears, and cries of joy. I witnessed just how much I, as a person from America, took things for granted. I saw children watch a top spin, and once it stopped they would spin it again and they never seemed to loose interest in it. Boys showed off their new Hot Wheels like it was their pride and joy. Girls were in awe as they gently plucked out their new dolls from their boxes, their fingers would gently touch the doll's hair wonder.
In one girl's box, everything was kept in by Ziploc bags, which made sense to me, so that space could be cut down by taking everything out of the packaging. But the poor girl didn't know what a Ziploc bag was! She didn't know the toys could come out of it.

All of it gave me a new understanding, and a new appreciation for all that God had blessed me with, but I didn't think much about it at the time, these moments weren't about me, they were about the children in front of me who were blessed in so many ways by the thoughtful families back in the United States who had spent one of their days picking out presents for them, and took the time to send it off.

It was amazing to think just how far these boxes had traveled. From an American's living room, they found themselves in the laps of thirty little children who had never even laid eyes on some of the things in those boxes, like Twizzlers, or glow sticks.

In an hour and a half, it was over, and the children started to pack up their toys back in their boxes, place them on top of their heads and walk out of the church. Even though it was over, the joy was still evident as they said 'thank you' to me, their pearly white teeth shined through as their smiles went from ear to ear. I can't fully express what a blessing it was for me that I was allowed to witness the opening of those Samaritan's Purse boxes, it was such a gift to me that I know I'll never be able to forget those smiles, and those excited squeals of joy. And every time I remember those faces, they will remind me never to take what I have for granted.