VBS created some wonderful memories for each of the Home of Hope kids last week! And while everyone is back home and getting back into a daily routine, the smiles remain.
There is no better time to look at the monumental changes in these children’s lives than at VBS. The 216 kids who were orphans, child slaves, extremely vulnerable and looking at the very worst the world had to offer are now able to run and play and learn together. This is incredibly powerful – not just because of the impact on these 18 families – but because it gives us a close-up look at tomorrow’s Haiti.
In his devotional He Walks Among Us, Richard Stearns writes this sentiment well:
“More than two billion children live in our world today, each ‘fearfully and wonderfully made,’ and ‘carefully knit…together’ in their mother’s womb. But fully half of them are born into the kind of poverty that robs their mothers of joy and stifles their God-given potential. Which of these precious children are tomorrow’s Davids or Samuels? How many are Beethovens, Shakespeares, Edisons, and Lincolns? Which ones will become the leaders, scientists, teachers, mothers and fathers who will shape our world tomorrow? God calls us to protect these little ones. They are His gifts to us, ‘living messages… to a time we will not see.'”
This last week was a time to watch and dream and begin to see glimpses of the great things these kids will have the opportunity to accomplish in life. It’s a thought that keeps smiles wide and alive long after VBS is over.