[From Jessie Solomon...]
Today was a lesson of humility and for sure an indelible memory of my trip to Sri Lanka. We visited a large hearing school outside Colombo with one class of, as they call it "differently abled" children, several of which were deaf/hard of hearing. We spent an hour or so reading to and loving on the children there that are so often the outcasts of not only the school but the whole community. It certainly made a statement to the teachers and students alike that the Americans came for the purpose of encouraging those in the margins of their society.
Before we left, we stood at the door of the classroom saying our goodbyes, when the teacher told them to show their gratitude for our visit. To my surprise one by one each child knelt on the ground at my feet some touching each of my dirty bare feet and others kissing each one. Tears began to run down my face as the last child, a deaf child with CP, struggled to bend his week legs to the ground and then to lift his heavy head up again as he mustered enough muscle control to crawl to each of our feet.
I felt so unworthy of such an act! A vivid picture ran through my head. A picture of me, a pauper, in all my imperfections, on my face before the merciful throne of Jesus in heaven. The only person that deserved such treatment is Christ Himself.
The missionary I was with reminded me that the only thing that makes us worthy of anything is Christ in each of us. He is also the reason that we are to serve, wholeheartedly, the people that are ignored, seemingly unlovable, living in the margins of societies around the world...they are the ones that He loves, they are His beloved and we are to be His hands and feet."