Without Shoes

The conversation of children.

There are things that children tell other children while playing that just don't come up in adult conversation.   

Arlee came home from playing with friends in our new neighborhood.   She began to tell me about one of her friends who wasn't allowed to enter the school classroom because her school shoes were broken.  

Arlee proceeded to tell me that she couldn't enter in socks or barefoot or with a shirt that had mud on it.   Her uniform and shoes have to be clean and complete.

Mind you, this child is one of NINE children.    Mind you, this child has to walk for at least 45 minutes to get the school she attends.  It is the rainy season... and all streets are red dirt.  How does one venture to walk that far and not have mud somewhere on one's body?

There is more.

There are not enough seats in the classroom.  In order to take the quarterly test, students have to have a seat.   Since the government cannot afford seats, students have to bring their own.  How does that happen in a home without chairs?  

Without a test grade, students fail the test.   Without passing tests, students fail the entire year.

Desperation.

Thank you, Lord, for bringing our children into this calling... for allowing them to develop friendships and receive information that we might have never received.  

Our children do take in a lot of ugly here in this remote corner of Honduras, but they also witness God's beauty and they see His Hand working to make education something that is attainable to all children.

Praise Him!