VBS was being held at Harvest India's main campus; it was for the Harvest India children as well as many other children who were invited from the surrounding areas. we had four rotations the children went through, story, memory verse, games and crafts. I was in the craft rotation.
On the drive over I was feeling very heavy and was singing the song "Break Every Chain" over and over in my head. It didn't help much. As I was sitting there Sloane leaned over and read this to me "Don't be afraid, for you will not be put to shame! Don't be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame you experienced in your youth; you will not remember the disgrace of your abandonment." (Isaiah 54:4) I wasn't sure exactly why, but it resonated deeply with me in that moment and I was crying again.
But I stepped out of the van and there were two lines of hundreds of smiling children ready with flowers to throw at us and, much like the day before when I saw those three girls, a deep joy resurfaced in me. It did not take away the sadness, but it overwhelmed it.
We worshiped with the kiddos at the beginning and at the end of the day. It was the most fun at the end of the day when we could join them out in the crowd to dance alongside them.
Crafts was fun but was definitely a test of my patience. Being surrounded by 300 children at a time tugging at your clothes, calling "Sister, Sister,"wanting your help with their craft whether or not they actually needed it is exhausting. We had some trouble finishing the crafts on time. But I figured these children just wanted our attention because they needed love. And if that meant I would have to play patty cake games, pray with them, or go back and forth pointing to things to call "super" instead of finishing the craft, it was well worth it.
My favorite group was the last group to come in. It was a group of older girls and in that group I met three of the most wonderful little ladies ever, Naga, Anita and Saree. Anita recognized me from earlier and so her natural first question was to ask if I remembered her name. I did not so I promptly asked her if she remembered mine. She laughed shook her head no and introduced herself and her friends to me. They had been with Harvest India for a while so they spoke english pretty well. I was able to talk with them about quite a few things.
After crafts we got to worship again and so I went out to dance with a group of little girls. They all crawled into my lap and wanted to show me their henna. They kept checking my hands to see if I had any, which I didn't, so instead I showed them the cross tattoo on my shoulders. They loved it.
These kids were unwanted by so many. But they love so well.
That evening we lead a church service for a pastors conference Harvest India was hosting. Harvest India invited all the pastors and their wives in the surrounding areas to a three day conference. We led worship as well as preached a sermon. Those pastors and their wives can really dance.
Romans 8 popped into my head during the day. In my downtime, when I would start to feel depressed again I would read it over and over. One verse in particular stood out to me, verse 33, which says "who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own?" It was a reminder that all the lies the enemy was placing in my mind were things that have no power over me anymore, for God had chosen me to be there in that moment in India. It became the verse I would speak over and over when those lies arose.
There is power in the name of Jesus.
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