Dear family and friends,
One of the many delights I had last week was being told good bye every day in at least 10 different languages. I'm such a bilingual wanna be. It's so amazing to see an inkling of how God created the human mind for such capacity.
The ministry we were able to come alongside is an incredible ministry. They are ministering to missionaries in a variety of ways. This past week they brought an educational/family conference to over 400. The seminars ranged from parenting and marriage to homeschooling and international schools. Testing was offered to the families for their children the day before the conference started. I personally know this can be a stretch to get accomplished in the states. The Potter's School came in and took care of 200 children. We were also able to provide the worship music for the adults and children, our pastor offered counseling, and this year for the first time we even had a darling love who gave 26 haircuts in a 3 days period to many elated women.
I had the pleasure of what ended up being 11 very precious and delightful toddlers. It was such a privilege to see God go before us in so many ways. The one I'm going to share made for a hard first day, but God was so faithful.
We were in a somewhat dark room....beautiful dark wood carved ceilings...now I'm the first girl in the room to love beautiful ceilings, but it made the room feel a little cave like. When the girls and I made out our plan of attack we were all so excited that we knew we could leave the room when necessary. Our toddlers LOVED to hold the rope and march. If you know me at all, you know we sang while marching.
The first day on one of these outings a little boy named Colin was hurt. There were light bulbs at the childrens level in the railing. I hadn't even thought about it being a danger. I'm so used to having such safe places to take care of children in the churches that we've been in over the years. His wrist rubbed against one and he cried for a moment. It was barely red, he asked for a band aid, and wanting him to be comforted I was NOT thinking. The whole incident was brief and unfortunately forgotten.
The parents all came in every day and whisked their children up to take them to lunch. We had the privilege of having lunch with one family everyday, which was such a treat in and of itself. When we came back Colin's parents were understandably waiting. The little red mark had thoroughly cooked under the band aid and was now a popped blister. I felt HORRIBLE...here they had entrusted me, a stranger, to care for their little one and he was not only burned, but they were not told.
But as I said before, God had gone so faithfully before me...as I was packing and praying about everything I should take on this trip I thought about some super duper burn cream that I have. I initially brushed off the thought as we weren't doing anything that was should need burn cream. It came back to me several times and finally I thought, "Okay, whether I need it or not, I'm taking it."
I was SO GRATEFUL as I explained to Collin's parents exactly what happened that I was also able to tell them that I had something for it in my room. I was so grateful that God knew what I needed in order to be equipped to take care of these little ones, even down to burn cream. When Collin's parents came to pick him up I sent it with them and was able to share how God had provided. They were very gracious and kind, for which I was grateful.
Does God go before me just on mission trips? Absolutely NOT is the very clear answer. Lord, please help me see you go before me all the time, so I can praise you and give you the glory! Have you seen God go before you recently? If you haven't, ask Him to show you...I'm certainly going to!
Watching with great expectations...
Love in Christ,
Dinah for The Troops
P.S.-Ed and Grammy are off, Caroline is slowly recovering, and the dog thinks she's lived here forever. The last words Daddy said, "Remember, she's not our dog!" Very interested to see if someone is looking for her. We've left phone numbers in all the appropriate places and will check the paper tomorrow. Never a dull moment with The Thomas Troops...not often, but sometimes I'd like one.
P.S.S.-I can hardly wait to tell you about elephants, little Miss Red Toes, singing with Caroline, the holy truck ride, and the most fantastic group of youth I've ever had the priviledge to travel with!
