Laughter is a universal language
Laughter is a universal language…
Was it Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday? The days seemed to run together towards the end of this great adventure; but what I do know for sure is that it was all worth it. The project is finished and praise to God we were able to accomplish more than we set out to. Despite some challenges and obstacles with building in a third world country, our team (in my humble opinion) was awesome! JP was a fantastic team leader; he set the pace for work ethic and kept the projects on task the whole time, which is no small feat with me around J. The entire team really stepped up and helped to make this trip an amazing, life changing experience.
Despite my efforts throughout the building process to describe, draw and communicate to the kids what it was we were building; they just looked at the structure that was going up with confused curiosity. Like someone dropped some very skinny trees into the ground and painted them blue, they just didn’t get it. It wasn’t until the final day when we hung the chains and seats and Mallorie jumped in to demonstrate for the first time what it looks like to swing that the light came on. On most of the days when we arrived at the site there were a throng of kids greeting us and following us around, this day was a little different. There were about 4 kids there when we started hanging the seats and doing the last few touch ups, which took a total of about 10 minutes and even with the lack of cell service, internet access, Twitter, phones or any digital communications device, word spread through the community very quickly. By the time we were finished with the seats there were at least 50 kids ready to see what the skinny trees were all about. There were a couple of immediate thoughts I had. The first, I heard no jungle drums, loud speaker announcement, siren or horn, they must have actually talked with one another about what was happening, like in person…weird. The second, “If you build it they will come” at one point I took some video of the line of kids walking down the dirt path to the playground and the vision from Field of Dreams came to mind. They came, not because they knew what it was all about or what they were going to experience but because someone in their community told them about this new thing being built and the curiosity spurred them along. What a cool lesson, as we at
It didn’t take long for the frenzy to grow and the kids took over, it was awesome! Every seat on the swings were taken and every wrung on the bars were full and there were lines behind each of them. There wasn’t one of them that had a clue how to swing but they knew how to push each other and that seemed to be fine with them. Looking at it now, I think it’s hilarious that I was actually getting anxious about teaching them how to do it “right”. I wanted them to know how to pump their legs and go as high as they wanted on their own. Kids are kids wherever you go and of course they figured it out and I’m sure when we go back we will find them jumping out of the swings at the highest point to try and out do each other for distance…they’re kids.
It was time to just step back and take it all in. I noticed that most of the team had just faded back and moved toward the community center to just watch for awhile. I think there may have been some gathering of composure going on, and I’ve come to the conclusion JP isn’t so tough. It wasn’t as if we had built a high rise building or even a small house, but it was challenging none the less and a very emotional experience to see the joy it brought to these kids. Dave Whalers said what he enjoyed the most about that moment was just closing his eyes and listening to the laughter. I think he is right, that was the coolest part. Squeals, cheers and most of all laughter is a universal language. There was nothing lost in translation, no need for an interpreter, hand gestures, drawings or anything else, these kids were so happy and so full of joy. It was all worth it, the travel, the cost, the work, the time away, no question it was worth it.
Here is the point; the entire trip was done out of love. Most of us didn’t know any of these people prior to the trip and so it’s tough to say we loved them, but…I love my Savior Jesus Christ, because He loved me first and He said we are supposed to love one another. Sometimes it’s tough for me to figure that out, what does that look like how do you do that, this trip made that really easy. We went there to spread the love of Jesus Christ, no expectation for something in return, just show love and let God do what he wants to do from there. Will I learn something about how to do that back here? I hope and pray that I do and I don’t forget the sounds of laughter and joy that the act of love brings to the lives of others through Jesus Christ.
With much love and blessings,
Spencer