Making Lives Count For Something

Two boys rushed passed me towards the vacant lot where we were setting up some chairs. They kept on running around. Later on, they were siting on the chairs we have prepared while still pulling pranks at each other. One would stand and pretend to fall down on the floor and pretend that it had been the other child's fault. Of course, a scuffle would start and they would fight until someone intervenes or one of them starts to cry.

Had they been patients in our clinic under my watch, I would have chased them around. Yet they weren't. In fact, they were miscreants from one of the yet to be demolished slums in Manila. Most of them were filthy and smelled of sweat, dirt, and something else. One even had something on his hair that I dare not identify not even where he had been playing before coming here.

Had it been someone else, say some wise-ass-social climbing maniac, they would definitely faint or even run away either from the stench or from the unruly kids. I had been used to that since childhood. I had some classmates from prep school before and had the experience of talking to them since high school and college. So their smell or even their looks would be normal to me. Besides, I saw no difference between them and the kids that I handle in private clinics. They both had great need to be understood.

That was why I was there together with the members from our Wednesday small group. There were seven of us that day. Two guys, including me, and the rest were women. We brought the kids snacks, some activities, and a bunch of chairs for them to sit on. We were armed with only our voices, our hearts and our prayers. It was a ministry we took over from a hard working couple who roam around the vicinity of Pasay-Manila and spread God's love to these kids. It is what we called a Branch Sabbath School.

If there was one word to describe this kids, it was chaos. We tried to break up fights, force them to stand and even try to get them to sit down. My friends tried everything, even bribing them with gifts and prizes, but they seem to have understood that everyone get food afterward anyway. So their ramblings and fighting ensued.

That was how we started the program. Some of them refusing to stand up, some of them fighting amongst each other, some were crying. It was utter chaos. No one could pacify these bunch of rowdy kids. We even thought of leaving, but that would mean admitting defeat. So we went ahead with the program.

What struck me most was not their ramblings, it was their silence. We finally made them to silence even for just a few precious minutes. And I would believe that it was not really me. Although I was the one who stood in front of them at that time, I believe it was the story that hushed up their mouths. The story was a Gospel classic: Jesus feeding the multitude.

I saw their faces hungry for the word of God. Not one kid spoke a word. Not one tried to run away or play around. All eyes were on me as I told them the story. All of them were in complete attention. Their eyes were bright with wonder as the story progressed. For a moment there I felt that relating that simple story to them made my life count for something.

Just the morning before that, I heard our elder preach that to make your life more meaningful, count your days. Maybe this is what counting your days mean. Counting your days working for the most High and seeing the precious faces of young souls famished for a story or even a comforting word from God. It is seeing how truly blessed we can all be who can afford the Bibles, and the Devotional Books to be inspired and look at life a tad more differently than these kids who would have to wait for someone to tell them about the good news from God.

It is their need, unruly and carefree as they are, and it is our duty to teach them. We who are able bodied, and can read, we who may be out of jobs but can see through the God behind all misfortunes, we are all accountable in God's sight.

So if you seem to find your life meaningless and short, just try to see to the spiritual needs of these children, something they would forget the world around them for.

More on making lives count visit:
http://manacled.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/numbering-our-days/