We never know how many people are in the villages where we go to put on the Kid’s Programs. Sometimes there are a few hundred children that show up, and sometimes there are only two. There is a sense of excitement and anticipation as we are setting up the projector and playing music, waiting for the kids to arrive. We set out on a 4 day trip to minister to 5 village churches – the furthest about 2 hours outside of Pucallpa in the jungle.

In one particular village, we were scheduled to start the program at 8:00 am. It is normal for the children to arrive anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour late. So when 8:30 came around and no one was at the church, we weren’t too worried. Finally, a little girl walked in by herself and sat on the front row. She was so excited to be there! We gave her the tambourine and she played along with the music while we danced and sang some songs.

Ok… so we had one kid. Where were the rest? About five or ten minutes later, a little boy walked in and sat down behind the girl.

That made two! It was now 9:00 am and we were talking about whether we should go ahead and start the program or wait for others to arrive. I’ll be honest, when you are in the jungle and it’s hot and bugs are flying around everywhere and you didn’t get any sleep the night before, it’s hard to get excited about doing a 3 hour program for two children. As we were talking, we were reminded (yet again) that this is not about us and if one child’s life could be better or they could have at least a little bit of joy and love poured into them for a few hours, then it’s all worth it.

God didn’t call us to go and reach every single kid in Peru. He simply called us to go. It’s not about reaching the masses, it’s about helping one child and giving them the hope and love they deserve. We started the program with a renewed sense of commitment and purpose and gave it all we had. There were a few more children that ended up coming in during the program, but even if there had still only been those two, we know that God was there with us and we all learned something that morning.

In His Mighty Grip and Celebrating Each and Every Child,

Stephanie