This is Beulah Home in Bangalore, India. Every morning I walked down the stairs to be greeted by three rows of children ranging from ages 3-17. Each one of them would say, "Good morning, Auntie!" It was my favorite part of the day.
My group was the middle group. I'm guessing they were from grades 3 - 5. These kids are from a different part of India and are unable to speak the local language so they can't go to the local school. They're waiting for us to give them English lessons. Their speaking skills are ok, but their writing skills are limited. The materials they have for school are pretty slim, and they use everything they have until its all gone.
I was nervous teaching this age group because they're a mystery! I had no idea if their English was good enough to understand me, if the "essential questions" would get answered, or the 'objectives' of the lesson. At one point, I'm pretty sure God was laughing so hard that He barely got out between chuckles, "Ms. Bird, relax. Just go love them."
On the last day, the young boy on the left wrote a story that was 3 pages long, (small font) front and back in 30 minutes. He is a really creative and bright kid. I wonder what he could do at a school like TCIS.
Every evening before dinner, all of the kids would sit and wait for us to come back from our afternoon tea. We would descend the stairs, only to be greeted again with, "Hello, Auntie!" The rest of the kids had returned from school. There were probably 100 kids total. They can sit and wait like I've never seen before. Only the smaller 3 year olds would get antsy and run around every now and then.
This is our praise songs and bible stories time. I was in charge of the music, but really, the kids already knew a million praise songs. Camp counselors would lose to any of these kids in 'name that tune.' I was really nervous to teach them songs because 1. I didn't know the songs that well and 2. Its just a little frightening to be in front of 100 kids who want you to teach them something cool. As it turns out, they just looooove to sing. Period. They sing with so much joy. I cried the first time I heard them sing because it was the most beautiful music my heart had ever felt.
The second day there, I was on the roof waiting to go back down for some lessons, and I heard "Blessed be your name" coming from the wash up area. It was the song I taught them! So maybe my science approach to teaching music works after all! My favorite line is "When I'm found in the desert place, when I walk through the wilderness, blessed be your name." These kids are going to have to walk through a lot of deserts and wilderness in their life. I hope they remember this song.
Stickers and balloons. I've never seen anyone have so much fun with these simple party items. They had the excitement this science nerd would have if you put me in a room full of new science lab equipment. They went nuts. One night I set my camera down on a table. 20 minutes later, it was covered in stickers. Every time I look at the hearts and stars on my camera, I remember the little fingers that placed them there.
My other favorite part of the day was the end before bedtime. Each day included English and Physics lessons (yes, my nerd information sharing quota was met, even at a children's home in India!), crafts, games, songs, stories, and dancing, so everyone needed rest. As a single person, I don't get a lot of physical contact. This is hard for me, since one of my Love Languages is physical touch. At the end of every night, I was hugged more than I had been hugged all of 2007 combined.I now know about real love. Beulah Home is about love. Pslam 23:5-6 My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.
My cup is still overflowing.
