A Notebook, 3 Pencils, an Eraser, a Ruler, & a Sharpener

A local charity was giving away school supplies to those whose parents were unable to provide them, so I took the young woman I mentor and her 6-year old daughter to the distribution event. This sweet child pranced into the office to select which backpack she wanted, and she came out with a beautiful new pink one, which extended about two-feet off her back since it was so full of supplies. Her mom carried a foot and half pile of notebooks, folders, paper, and various items that delight a child’s heart and abundantly equip her for the first grade. Seeing her joy delighted my heart as well, and I am so grateful for the generous people who contributed these items and for the ministries that get them into the hands of those in need.

Juxtapose the picture of this beautiful American child tipping over backwards because of the load of supplies on her back with another beautiful little girl, one living in a Kenyan orphanage with no public or other stable source of funding, dependent on the kindness and generosity of others not much better off financially than she, who might receive a third of a pencil to meet her needs at school.  

Can’t compute how a school could be so poor that they would break pencils into three pieces, so each child could have something to write with?  Neither can I, but my friends from Kenya assure me this is true, so we are reaching out to our friends and neighbors to donate supplies for the 1,000 children in the 12 orphanages we provide support to. Our goal is not for each child to get a new backpack, three feet of notebooks and paper, a selection of markers, crayons, pens, pencils, and a dozen other doodads. We do, however, desire to give these precious children joy and make them feel rich by giving each a notebook, 3 pencils, a ruler, an eraser, and a sharpener, all of which could be purchased for $1.13 between the Dollar Tree and Walmart or found clogging up desks and drawers in most homes.

Imagine the children in a straight row, processing through the line, faces beaming as they step forward to be handed their treasure trove of supplies wrapped in the love of God extended to them from fellow sojourners in America. 

Take joy in knowing the Lord put on many hearts the desire to provide what these children have no mother or father to give to them, and praise God, for the light of Jesus shining through their offering.

James 1:27 – Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.