Children's Minsitry

Man, oh man. My heart continues to break for the little children in Dieabougou, West Africa. During our stay there, I discovered that the love that I have for children is much deeper than I ever imagined. The children are so content with their surroundings and the things that they have, and that truly was a blessing to my heart. Yes, my heart breaks for them because indeed they have far less than the children in America, but in the same sense my heart rejoices because the only things they need are each other and Jesus. In the photo here you see Jonathan Coggins with two the sweetest Dagara children (they were brothers). From the first day in the village these children stole my heart. There was something different about them that seemed to bother the others, but I guess that something made me long to love them even more. They were extremely hyper. They had more energy than most children do. I even asked Nathan if Ritalin was available in Africa. He just laughed. On the second day in the village the little one in the middle finally came to me and it happened. We were attatched. I was his new best friend. He stayed close by my side during the lesson on the Good Samaratin, then he ran off with Jonathan and Nathan to play with the children while I along with Jess and Ernie stayed behind to teach the women. Lynn instructed us to walk back to the church where the guys were teaching once we had wrapped things up and catch a ride with them back to the house because she had several runs to make to drop women off. In our track they rode right past us and waved, so needless to say we were left behind. Lynn came back and we told her to go ahead and make the other runs, we would start walking towards the other villages that way she would not have to drive so far. In all of this confusion and in our long walk, this little boy followed along. We each took turns holding his hand (he held on tight too), he sang, he rode on Nathan's back (Nathan said "I hope this one is potty trained!),and the best part of it all I gave him COLD water to drink and he loved it. I wish you all could hear him smacking his little lips together as he drank. It is a sound I will never forget. Needless to say he had followed us about 3 miles up the road, so we had to take him back to his home village. I told the ladies later that night, that I believed the Lord sent that little one into my life to be my teacher. My faith had been dry, I was weary of where the Lord was going to use me in ministry and I was to the point of just quitting all together. It was that little one who taught me to love the little children and allowed the Lord to speak through him in calling me to Children's Ministry/Missions. Dosent the saying go "God uses the smallest things to do the largest things in our lives." I'm outta here! Meg