To be completely honest I detest silly bands. I think they are one of the most useless fad that has come out in the past few decades. I mean they are so...... well silly. To make matters worse before we headed out for our missions trip to Jamaica some one had the bright idea that it should collect as many of those glorified office supplies as we could and hand them out in our school and the orphanages. I thought to myself "this is not going to be good". This feeling I shared with my friend Marc Allen (add him as a friend on facebook, he is blogging on his month long mission trip to Guyana, it's good stuff).
He shared my way of thinking. We predicted the kids wouldn't care much for them, but they did, in fact they loved them. We figured the fact that one kid got a red race car and his friend got a yellow duck would set off a fight just shy of being called World War III. That it is also did, there where some insane fights over these colored pieces of elastic that Dana White would love to put on a UFC card. We predicted they would break and set off mass panic as to how they could get not just another silly band, but that exact blue guitar band that just popped off of their wrist. Amazingly the bands held up pretty good.
The thing we forgot to add to our discussion though was the most important. That this wasn't a work about giving away something I deem cool or silly, but about doing God's work. Matthew 10:42 says "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."
To even further illustrate this point I have to tell you where this school was. First off think of Jamaica, the clear water, beautiful palm tress, and forget that picture that's in your head. The area we were ministering in is called Flankers, and it is as far as the image of paradise the word Jamaica conjures up that you can imagine. Words can't begin to describe the poverty and crime that is rampant in this area, but if you would like to take a stab at letting words describe it just do a google search for "raid in Flankers Jamaica", what comes up is a pretty accurate picture of what goes on there.
It was so bad that as we arrived at the entrance to the neighborhood on Friday we had to talk our way in as the local army had locked the hood down in a raid. I would have better pictures but when guys carrying guns don't want their pictures taken I tend to comply.
So I went through all that to get to this, the kids at the combined Grant's Basic and Flanker's Basic Schools have it rough. These kids don't have much, and they don't expect much. They are tough as nails, but they are still kids. So when you give these kids attention, a hug, and yes a silly band it's a big deal. To see their faces after receiving a silly band you would have thought they where just given an Xbox 360. It was true appreciation for the gift, but joy that some one, though they had never meet them cared enough to give them a gift. I could wrap it up here and we could all agree it's better to give than to receive and call it a day, but I can't.
I went to Jamaica to bless others, and instead I ended up getting blessed, ain't that just like God. After we passed out the bands we took the kids outside to play, and this beautiful little girl named Denicia came up to me and noticed I didn't have a silly band on my wrist. So she took off her green dinosaur silly band and said "Mister you don't have one, take mine." I could have told her I thought those things where ridiculous and I didn't want one. But the fact that this little girl who basically had little to nothing was that willing to give touched me to the core.
So now I, the guy who has slammed these bands with out mercy, has one. When I wear it I think of Denicia, and I thank God for her. Even at that tender age she is not defined by her surroundings and with God and prayers as she grows older maybe she and other like can be the ones to make the change not just in Flankers, Jamaica but in the world as a whole.
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