Investing in a child

Sorting through memories of Kenya this week brought up one of my favorite experiences from last year's trip:  It was our first day of sports camp in Nandi, and we found ourselves seated in the first row of a church filled with 600 excited children.  Most of them couldn't get enough of shaking our hands and asking "how are you?" (and giggling when we replied with "fine," the response they're taught in their English lessons).  Many of them had never seen white people before, so we were quite the celebrities.  But I noticed one little girl seated down the row from us, just observing us from her hiding place behind her friend.  She looked to be about 6 or 7 years old (but it's hard to tell since malnutrition stunts children's growth, so she could have been as old as 9 or 10 depending on how much access she had to food).  After the initial rush of children was over, I went over to say hi to her, and she timidly shook my hand.  She didn't speak English (or wasn't comfortable speaking it), so her friend told me her name was Faith.  I didn't want to overwhelm her, so I left her alone the rest of that morning except for the occasional smile I'd throw her way.

The next day, we were all sitting in our front-row seats again (with children scattered throughout our group now), and I looked up to see that Faith had made her way over all by herself to say hi.  I asked if she wanted to sit with me & motioned to the seat next to me, which she cautiously took.  I struggled to get a smile out of her, but she stuck to my side & eventually hopped on my lap, so I called it a success.  When it was time for lunch & all the other children rushed out to where it was being served, Faith still wouldn't leave me & I had to use my very limited Swahili to encourage her to eat.  (Ungapenda kula?--Would you like to eat?)

The next morning, I was up on stage leading the motions for the sports camp music when I looked over & saw Faith climbing up on stage to stand next to me & do the motions.  This little girl who was too scared to come shake my hand 2 days earlier was up on stage leading motions in front of 600 other children.  It was really touching to see that jump in a few short days from a child in the background to a leader, all because I'd gone over to shake her hand.

If just a handshake can do that, I'm encouraged that going to Kenya and investing in the lives of the children there will accomplish amazing things.  I keep praying for Faith, and I hope she's able to touch lives as much as she touched mine.