a few years ago i had the opportunity to spend a week in a seminar at yale university with one of the most renowned christian anthropologists of our day. the experience was one of those that will forever change how i see life and missions. one of the myriad things i learned from dr. whiteman was that most of us form our view of life (worldview) and reality by the time we are five years old. unless something dramatic takes place in our lives, like a personal encounter with christ, this understanding of life will guide us till the day we die. if a child feels loved and important, the adult will feel the same way; if a child feels abandoned and isolated, the adult will too. if a child feels like the world is his/her oyster, the adult will to; if the child feels grateful, the adult will also feel grateful.
ever since my children were very little we have always done service/mission projects as a family. everything from kidzrap to the rock creek 10K to partnering with an inner city church.
this past week our family took our first foreign mission trip. we traveled 6,000 miles to florianópolis, brazil. gavin (our 5 yr old) carried school supplies his class has collected. gavin and zane (our 9 yr old) handed out the supplies to kids in the slums of frei damião. the boys were amazed at how excited the kids were about getting a ziplock bag with an eraser, two pencils and a few crayons. zane commented on how these kids were as excited about these school supplies as he would be if we got him a wii game.
zane and gavin may not fully understand the magnitude of the impact they had on the kids of frei damião; mom and dad may not either. however, all four of us returned to the usa thankful that we could again drink out of water fountains and say "hi" instead of "oi." in gavin's case he was excited to find urinals that didn't hit him in the chest!
this afternoon our family heads for kidzrap ... another chance to make a difference ... another reminder to be grateful for the little things in life.
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