My husband took his second mission trip down to Jinotega, Nicaragua this summer and one night while he was gone, after reading her bible at bedtime, she asked if she could as me some questions. First she blew me away with questions like if hell was a real place and if the devil ever walked on earth as a human like Jesus did. She is 6. I had to pick my jaw up off the floor and come up with answers that she could understand. Then she began to ask me questions about the children of Nicaragua.
From hearing stories from her daddy and looking at pictures, she knew that there were children that lived at the dump with their families just in order to survive. They often walked around barefoot around the mounds of trash and fought off vultures for food.
She asked if those children ever received toys or shoes and I told her that they probably only received what was donated by others as their families were very poor. She said, “Mama, I’ve got a lot of toys in my playroom and while I like my toys, I know that I have a lot more toys than those kids so I want to go through my playroom and pack up some toys to send down to Nicaragua.” My heart melted.
After loading up a box of toys and taking them to United Christian Missions (the group that John travels with for his mission trips), she decided that that was not enough. She wanted to come up with a way that she could help provide shoes for the kids. She asked if we could have a yard sale to raise money to buy shoes. How could we say no?
We had planned on decluttering and cutting back anyway so this was the perfect time. We went through the house and loaded up things we didn’t need or could live without and hosted a yard sale the last weekend in August. We called it “Abby’s Heart for Nicaragua Yard Sale.” We had a great turn out and ended up raising $300 for shoes for the children in Jinotega that help to allow them to attend school.
Her heart is so full of love and compassion that you can’t help but be inspired by watching her grow. She has a greater understanding of Christ’s love for others than many adults. Her teachers at school say she is the first one to volunteer if a classmate is in need of help. I think if there is one benefit of growing up with a parent that is chronically ill that it allows for a greater understanding of compassion, gratitude, and learning the importance of the little things. I am just so proud to be her mama.
If you feel inspired and would like to help the children of Nicaragua, you can participate in the United Christian Mission’s Educate A Child program to help a child receive an education or participate in one of the other many ways to help make a difference. In addition to their website, you can also find UCM on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.
What or who has inspired you lately?