What kids can teach you

Kids club!! okay, so this has been sitting on my heart to write recently.
I never really looked at all the time I've spent with children abroad. There is soo much they can teach you. I was a camp counselor at an English/Spanish camp in Madrid, Spain. Kids Club in Romania. University students, Syrian refugees and gypsy kids in Turkey. The orphanage at Robin's Nest in Jamaica. There is so much to embrace about all that it has taught me and how I can apply those lessons here. 

There is one thing in common, children have it fairly good in America. When I was in Turkey, I did a day that I could meet children and mother's who have fled the war zone of Syria. It changed my life to actually meet these human beings. These children have no idea why they had to leave their country, and yet if they will ever return. They have family all over they are trying to get too. But yet they still found joy and happiness in the midst of it all. We did crafts and sang songs, and still was able to be in the moment. 

The other profound moment was when I was in college I went to Madrid, Spain to work as a camp counselor during the summer months. The team all stayed in host families and their children also went to the camp. This was my first real exposure to life outside of America in this way. Spanish kids are smart, and most of them knew English. I didn't know any Spanish. They were helpful, yet loud as it is in their culture, but loved to learn. It was a blast to have camp in the mountains and learn do crafts, dramas, and learn things from each other. I adored my host family. And I still keep in contact with them. 

In Romania, one of the main ministries that YWAM Constanta has is Kids Club. This is a time where the gypsy kids and kids who live in the more poverty line can hang out and have some fun. We spend two weeks working with them. We did games, dramas, songs, teachings. It was very overwhelming. There were so many kids, and they all wanted to be loved. It really broke my heart. They didn't have the best of clothes or so, but it was a way for them to escape reality. 

In Jamaica my team and I went to an orphanage called Robin's Nest. It was about a thirty minute drive up a one way road in the mountains. This place had a beautiful location, and we did lawn work, played with the kids and helped out. This was also hard, it not only made you to bring all the kids home, but it made you really sad. No matter what, these kids are loved by God, even if their earthy parents had to give them up for whatever reason. The adoption process takes a long time, so these kids will have to wait even longer. 

And on a more local note, I've worked with Cross Net Ministries and worked in the mentor program with my mentee for the past five years. 

Children have a lot they can teach us, these kids have gone through more then we can imagine, and God loves them. 










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