Tell me your name

My name is Emily. 

And here are some variations of my name.

EhhMehLee

Emelbean

Embely

Esmely

And this month’s most popular, Emeleen.

It humbles me that so many kids know my name (or their favorite variation of it) but I still have yet to know every single name. I continue to pray that the Lord will help me with this because I know how important it is to feel known and special by someone remembering your name.

From Isaiah 43

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel. Fear not for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you…For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you. Fear not, for I am with you.

I take joy and comfort in meeting and loving those whom the Lord loves…whom the Lord calls “his”…whom are precious to him…whom He watches over…

I want to spend more of my heart, time and energy getting to know these dear ones better. During this month, I’ve been spending lots of time on two things: home visits and enrolling more kids into our sponsorship program.

Both of these things I’m so excited about. I LOVE getting to know kids better by walking their streets, sitting in what is sometimes the only chair in the whole house, and meeting those who have raised them and grown up with them.

I’m also thrilled about enrolling more kids for sponsorship. We have about 300 kids coming but only about half of them are available to sponsor, but that’s about to change! I’ve started the process of interviewing, learning life stories, and taking pictures so that they will soon have sponsors! I am working to make sure that ALL of our first, second, and third graders can be available for sponsorship!

Doing these two things has been a blast! It has also been so cute- I’ve been writing down what kids are saying and what I am finding out about them. Read on for a laugh or two!

Conversation with first grade Cheila:

“What are these blue lines in your wrist?”

“Those are my veins- there is blood running through them…let me see your wrist…it’s a little harder to see yours, but they are there!”

“No- I don’t have those!”

A week later…Cheila is holding my hand again studying my wrist.

“Emeleen…I think those are blue worms under your skin!”

While walking with Cheila to her house, she again is holding my hand…

“1…2…3…4…5!!! Hey, you have 5 fingers too, Emeleen!”

One day walking up in the village, it felt like a million degrees. I was sweating buckets and so were all the little ones I was with. First grade Donald was walking a little ahead of me. He stopped suddenly, took off his backpack, and used it like a cloth to wipe all the sweat off his face and arms! Hah! Way to be resourceful, Donald J

“EhhMehLee, is it true that you and Karen wash your hair every single day?”

“Yes, my dear, its true”

(Apparently the frequency of the gringa’s hair washing is a topic of conversation for our junior high girls! Different textures of hair here mean usually not washing your hair everyday. It would be more common to wash it once or twice a week, so me washing my hair every single day is a crazy thought! Although depending on how hot it is, some days I wish I could wash my hair more than once!)

While doing enrollments for second and third graders…

“When is your birthday?”

“Well, I think it’s sometime next year when I turn one year older!”

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“An adult!”

“How old are you?”

“At least 8 I think!”

“Please tell me your full name.”

“Marcos Miguel Michael Rodriguez. People just call me Marcos Miguel but sometimes my mom calls me by all of those names when I’m in trouble.”

Hand in hand with these conversations that light up the day are parts of their lives that are filled with deep pain and could easily bring you to tears.

Listening to their life stories reminds me of how many of our kids have lost parents- whether a death because of an illness, or a tragic accident, or a crime, or abandonment, or a broken marriage. Most of our kids have lived their whole lives in tiny homes with no running water and no guarantees of where their next meal will come from.

God’s word brings comfort as I think right back to that passage in Isaiah- He knows their names- They belong to Him-When they pass through the waters, He will be with them- They are precious and honored in his sight- And He LOVES them.