Hopscotch

 ​     It was not all sadness and heart break.  One of my favorite moments came when mother nature called (thankfully not for me!)  I am not sure what you would imagine the toilets to be like in a village that has nothing.  Multiply that by ten and you may come close.  I am not going to lie.  I strategically rationed my water consumption to only have to use the facilities in the evenings when we had an actual toilet, even if it had no seat.  Let me tell you, this is one area that my planning and organizational personality really came in handy.   Not once did I actually have to use the “bathroom” in the villages. TMI?  Trust me, you would brag about this too.

     Anyway, another person on my team had the unfortunate need to use the bathroom.  We had to go in groups.  One to use the hole in a box, one to guard the door because you could not close it completely without passing out, and one to distract the entourage of children that follow you.  This time I had the job of distraction.  I tried singing with them but they gave me the look of, “what are you doing?  Is that really how Americans sound?”  So, I moved on and decided to play a game.  I quick did a WWJD in my head.  Of course!  I bent down and wrote in the dirt, just like Jesus did, and drew a hopscotch!  It never says in the Bible what He wrote, but I have an inkling it was hopscotch.  It was a beautiful, unscripted moment that I was able to break language barriers and play.  They loved it!  As the dirt dusted over, they would scramble down to redraw it.  I loved hearing the children’s laughter.  I cherish the thought that even today, they may be drawing a hopscotch in the dirt and remembering a white girl who loves them and the God who sent her.