The Sweetest Gift

These past few weeks have been so busy! I've been wanting to share the story of my friend Barriki. 

This is Barriki! His name means Blessing in Swahili. We first met Barriki when we would go on evening runs, since he lives on the compound and his parents work here at the hospital. We became fast friends with him and his siblings, who were always so hospitable to us. 

Barriki invited us to play soccer with all the guys (even though no girls play), and we loved it. 

Afterwards, he invited us to his house to give us a present — sugarcane! We expected maybe a few small pieces to try, but instead Barriki pulled out a stick almost my height! He really wanted us to take it, but we told him we had no knife big enough to cut it. So he pulled out his machete and cut it all up so we could take it home.

We loved the sugar cane! it became a tradition, that every day after soccer he would cut us a piece of sugarcane and we would eat it on our way back home. 

Well, when we started the Vacation Bible School, Barriki, being one of the older children, was very consistent in coming! Though he could be distracting at times as you would expect of a boy his age, he seemed to enjoy sparking group discussions about the topics we taught. Sometimes it's hard with kids to know how much information they are really understanding, but we noticed him wanting to go more in depth on the themes, and being truly interested in the material. 

On the very last day of Vacation Bible School, I invited the Pastor to come talk to the children about baptism. He explained to the children that now that they had learned the fundamental beliefs of our church, they could decide whether or not they wanted to be baptized (if they believed they were ready). 

Barriki was the first to raise his hand! 

The very next sabbath, our little friend was baptized right outside the church. It was so touching to me, because I realized that in the same way that Barriki began our friendship by giving us the sweet gift of the sugar cane, we were able to give him the even sweeter gift of a relationship with God. 

And one thing that the pastor told us that really stuck out to me was this: we will never truly know how big of an impact we have made on these children until we reach heaven. 

Sometimes we aren’t able to see the fruits of our labor through the power of God, but sometimes we do! And in this case, I am so so happy that I was able to see God working. And I’ll always know that it’s not I, but through Christ in me. 

Here's a song that I’ve been listening to this week: 

Yet Not I but Through Christ in Me (CityAlight)

With every breath I long to follow Jesus 

For He has said that He will bring me home

and day by day I know He will renew me 

Until I stand with joy before the throne 

To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus 

All the glory evermore to Him 

When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat 

Yet not I, but through Christ in me