Riely turned to me the other day and said,
"You know, if these kids lived in the states all of their parents would be in jail."
The thing that struck me about that was, it's true. All 115 of my students have parents who would be imprisoned in the USA. For buying and selling drugs, for child abuse, for rape. And it hit me that I had already started to numb myself to the situations that these kids live in, the homes they go back to every day. All their stories are so similar it seems grotesquely normal for South Africa. After all, this is the only South Africa I know.
A little girl in Abby's class was raped by three different men in three months.
Nine-year-old Keenan lives in a slum with a household full of drug-addicted gangster brothers. He attacks little girls constantly through the day. And when playing house, he is asked why, as the only boy, he is the brother and not the dad he replies,
"Because if I was the dad I would have to hurt everybody."
John, a first grader, lives in the orphanage and doesn't spend time in class at all. He follows the guys around like a puppy and helps them with whatever he can. He shoveled sand with them for an entire day. His teachers don't mind at all since he doesn't behave in class anyway.
When the topic of father's day got brought up in Abby's class and she asked, "What do you guys do with your dads?" The answers at first were normal. "Walk the dog." "Play ball." "Go to the park." When one of the girls quietly said nothing Abby asked "Do you have a dad?" "Yes." "What do you do with your dad?" "Nothing." To which another girl quickly replied, "Her dad sleeps with her."
Every night.
Riely's two year olds swear at each other all day and know how to throw a better punch than I can. One little boy had diaper rash so bad he has raw skin from his bellybutton to mid-thighs, he also has an ear-infection so severe that puss and fluid fill his ear and leaks down his face every 20 minutes. This same baby sleeps all morning long because his drug-addicted parents keep him up all night beating him.
And no matter what I do, these kids will go back to these families or orphanages every night. And they will continue to be abused and they will continue to be exposed to drugs and alcohol and they will continue to be neglected. So what exactly am I supposed to do in dance class? Do these kids need dance class? No. They don't.
But they do need love.
Our ministry contact in Honduras told me that every physical thing we do is an excuse to get into a community for the purpose of loving them like Jesus. We teach to love kids like Jesus, we paint to love people like Jesus, we do landscaping to love people like Jesus, we build houses to love people like Jesus, we have feeding programs to love people like Jesus. Because if we just walked in with a Bible and said "Hey we came here because Jesus loves you," the acceptance rate of that message wouldn't be very high. But if we fly halfway around the world to build a house for free because you need one then you will likely ask me why and I can tell you, "Because Jesus loves you."
I don't teach dance class because these children are in desperate need of dance steps or music theory. I teach dance class because it's an excuse for me to love them like Jesus. And I might not be able to "fix" anything, I might not be a psychologist or have millions of dollars to open up a private orphanage for 200 children. But I know how to love.
So if the only thing these kids get out of music and dance class is just the ability to run around and be kids for 30 minutes a day then so be it. If they can't stay focused for long enough to memorize the choreography that's fine. If the only thing they learn is that Jesus loves them, then I consider myself successful.
Because for these three months dance is just my excuse to love like Jesus.
Exactly! Exactly right! It’s not about you (us), but about what He will do through his beloved faithful. And this will be true for your whole life, in every situation, in whatever He calls you to do. God puts you where He needs you most. Keep looking up and out for His Ministry and your opportunities. Then enjoy His many different blessings. God is good! His love to you. Kristen’s Mom
Nik another blog that I had to stop half way through to focus my eyes from the tears. You are amazing and just know that dance class that they don’t listen in is the one they will hear in. When I worked with street kids I learned how to get that “cold” that you wrote about. But that was only necessary to get through each day, it never stopped my heart from loving or believing. You are making such a difference..
Love ya bunches
Aunt Elly
me too
Nikki, this one made me cry…for the kids. I love that you are doing what you can–loving them. God will use it! Joe