Author: Amanda, serving on staff with Kaleo Missions in San Diego. To submit a story or a photo for our Kaleo Missions blog, email blog@kaleomissions.org.
God is doing amazing things here in San Diego. I think it is so awesome that Kaleo gets to partner with lots of other ministries to help share God’s love with people from all kinds of backgrounds, especially the refugee population. This past week I had the opportunity to work at Sports camp at Colina Park. We had over 57 kids the first day. I really enjoyed sports camp and it was great how God used my students to share Gods love to the kids. However, one of my highlights of the week was on the second day when I met this precious young lady named Gail.
Gail is a 22-year-old female from Burundi. She has such a beautiful smile and a unique personality. I met her at her sports camp sitting all alone in the grass while her friends played soccer. What you don’t know about Gail is that she is mentally disabled and is often ignored by others. In the African culture being mentally handicapped is looked upon as a curse, sometimes even in the American culture it is often look down upon. I didn’t see her as a curse or a person with disadvantages, but I saw her as a beautiful blessing from God. She was a fun and joyful young lady who just needed some attention. She doesn’t speak much English at all so the first day we didn’t talk much. The next day I brought markers and paper to draw with her. We colored a lot and sang our ABCs. She would repeat them after me. It was awesome to finally see her smile. I helped her the rest of the week with her English, and just giving her attention that she desperately needed.
This young lady stole my heart. She is the same age as me and I don’t know why God chose to make her the way she is, but I know she is a blessing. Sometimes I wonder why God would allow his perfect creation to be born with disabilities, or why he choose to allow me to live a normal life with a normal family. When I think this way I am reminded that every person is created differently and it is so beautiful to God. I have learned to not question God, but instead try to ask him to show me the uniqueness in every person that He places in my life.
We are called to be a blessing to others whether that is a simple hello or a simple smile. You never know what type of impact you are making on that person. We are human and want to see immediate results or reactions, but sometimes we are just called to plant a seed and then God is calling someone else to water that seed. It could be you, so my encouragement to you would be don’t place limits or hold your plans too tight because you never know what God could be calling you to do. I am learning more and more everyday to be okay with not knowing what’s next in this journey we call life. In everything you do may you do it all for the glory of God. We must die to ourselves daily and let God be the leader.