heart to heart

today was a really good day overall, but one of my experiences this morning had an impact on me that has lasted with me till the evening time [right now].  

today is our "mission of teaching" day and i was so excited to be back - it seems that it has been like a month or so since i made my last visit due to me being gone in madrid for world youth day and then because of weather conditions! it was so nice running around with the kids again and forgetting that i probably look absolutely HUGE compared to these small 5-8 year olds that have become my playmates.

one of the teachers told me that one of our parents that we sponsor through our foundation was incredibly ill, but now she is out of the hospital. i asked, who is taking care of her? they told me, their special needs child who is 19 and in the first grade. i asked how can this be because he himself can not fully take care of himself 100%. the teachers told me that though he lacks motor skills and can not speak, he is the one that has been entrusted to take care of her and he is capable. i was absolutely shocked, but more sad about the reality of the situation...meanwhile, his 4 other brothers and sisters are in school, however, they have not had the best attendance because they live super far and do not have money for transportation to their school, and no one to accompany them as they go to school. their father is a carpenter, but of course, that is only an on-off kind of thing - it is not a stable profession. it was a blessing that one of the teachers was able to give their family some money to take her to the hospital. :(

to make this heart matter hurt even more, is that one of the social worker interns debriefed me on the conditions of one of the children in that family. that child is one of the students i teach and i learned she has scabies - i am not a medical professional by ANY means, but in those 30 seconds that she showed me where on her knee the scabies had really made its mark, literally, i thought to myself, oh baby jesus - no. she got it from her brother who got it from his classmate. meanwhile, she was given medication by one of her mother's friends to hopefully cure her skin, but of course, her mother's friend is not a medical professional either.

today i learned that there is just need after need and it really does hurt my heart when i am face to face with the poor who are suffering - really, with no food on their table to eat. today i felt myself getting frustrated when the kids weren't paying attention to the prayers i was teaching them...and then i thought to myself, crystal, you try to wake up at 5am everyday, to walk a couple of miles, and then cross a river, and then walk another long distance to get to school. and so, gentleness was the key to my teaching for the day.

so with that, i ask for your prayers for the families that we sponsor through our foundation and for an increase in courage, strength, and perseverance for the parents, especially, who work extra extra hard to provide for their families. especially with the typhoons and all of the heavy rains, many crops and land [the livelihood of our families] were damaged, resulting in a great loss of profit, so this is an extra challenging time for them. please keep these families close to your heart, and may we be filled with gratitude for the blessings that God still provides us with, even amongst these conditions, and though we can not always recognize the graces, may we still be filled with thanksgiving.