by Jake Findley
You take away all the other luxuries in life, and if you can make someone smile and laugh, you have given the most special gift: happiness.*
While in Puerto Abajo , Guatemala , doing a Vacation Bible School
He was eight years old, and looked small for his age. His bare feet, dirty sweater and khakis that brushed his ankles proclaimed his poverty, but he was full of joy, and wanted to know more of the Lord.
We found out his birthday was at the end of the week, so some of our team went to town and bought a birthday cake. That night, we invited Francisco, and his family to our outreach home, a two bedroom house across the road from the ministry’s clinic. We were planning a surprise birthday party.
When they arrived, we greeted them, and told Francisco that we had something special for him. We brought out the cake, and then, the birthday presents. The joy that was on his face was like nothing I have ever seen before. When he opened the remote control car we gave him, he became king of the block for the day.
The way he and the other kids responded was better than we could hope for. The other neighborhood kids, though they surrounded Francisco and his hotrod with oohs and ahs, were very respectful of him and his new toy. And he shared turns willingly.
We soon found out that he had never had a birthday celebration before, with a cake and gifts. He lives in a two room adobe house with his family. Their diet consists mostly of tortillas, beans and coffee. They rarely eat fresh vegetables or fruit. His is a situation where there is little money to do extra things like a birthday party.
It was staggering to see that something we can easily take for granted—like a simple cake and two gifts for a birthday—meant everything for this little boy, and was such a blessing for his family.
*quote by Brad Garrett
No comments:
Post a Comment