It continues to amaze me at how grateful everyone here is with the simplest of gifts...
This morning we handed out a pack of stickers, a red pen, a package of cookies and a Beanie Baby to each one of the teachers; you would have sworn we gave them a hearty year end bonus with the way they reacted. Some of their comments were as follows...
"All this for just me!!"
"Wow, there's more!!" (after receiving first the stickers and pens)
"Oh my, thank you, thank you, thank you!!"
Here are just a couple of their photos...
Next up for simple gifts were Hawaiian Shirts! Last time we were here Robert wore a variety of Hawaiian shirts and the guys absolutely loved them. Since then, he'd been collecting them from Goodwill so he could hand them out when we came back. The first recipient was Russ when his luggage didn't arrive; then he was hooked!
Here are a few of the other guys as well...
Then there's the simple gift of a hot meal of rice and chicken broth. It's the standard meal served to the "Lunch Bunch" children at the Marshall School. These are the kids whose families struggle with providing them food, so we provide it for them.
It's only $10 per month to sponsor a "Lunch Bunch" student with nourishment.
The following simple gift wasn't anything monetary; it was the gift of encouragement.
We drove quite a distance to villages that were even more remote than Madhavapatnam to visit two different Cutting and Tailoring Centers. At both places we were greeted with such enthusiasm and the message we gave to the women encouraging them to stick with their
"stitching classes" was very well received.
Back at the hostel, we handed out Sophie's Sweet Treats which is always a hit, and hand knit scarves made by some of the women at our church. This was followed by reading a "Dr. Seuss" book with the kids; young and old read along with me. Of course, prior to all this they had a dance party! All of these were simple yet cherished gifts!!
May your hearts be open to receive with gratitude the simple gifts in life!
Namaste'
~Jenny
We drove quite a distance to villages that were even more remote than Madhavapatnam to visit two different Cutting and Tailoring Centers. At both places we were greeted with such enthusiasm and the message we gave to the women encouraging them to stick with their
"stitching classes" was very well received.
Back at the hostel, we handed out Sophie's Sweet Treats which is always a hit, and hand knit scarves made by some of the women at our church. This was followed by reading a "Dr. Seuss" book with the kids; young and old read along with me. Of course, prior to all this they had a dance party! All of these were simple yet cherished gifts!!
The final simple gift for me was seeing one of our graduated hostel young ladies return from college to greet us. Her hope is to return to Marshall School someday to be a science teacher.
What joy in my heart to see the children want to give back to this ministry.
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| Swomya and her brother Nithin who is still in the hostel. |
May your hearts be open to receive with gratitude the simple gifts in life!
Namaste'
~Jenny
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.
ReplyDeleteLove this post, maybe most of all!! It is a beautiful gift for me. Thank you!