![\"IMG_1009\"](\"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_1009.png\")
<\/a>My most memorable young friend this past summer sat near the front of two long rows as cookies were distributed to about thirty children. As he held out his hands, I went to hand him a bag and Karlyn said, \u201cHe already has some, Dad.\u201d The boy looked at me with sad eyes and continued to hold out his hands. \u201cAre you sure, Karlyn?\u201d I asked. She firmly confirmed her answer and I refrained from giving. A few minutes later, knowing his efforts had failed, the kid stuck his hand in his pocket, pulled out the cookies, and started eating.<\/p>\nA few minutes later, with the children still sitting on the steps, we began giving gifts \u2013 one to every person. I watched my little friend take a toy, put it in his pocket, and nonchalantly walk to the other end of the row. As he stuck out his hands to receive another toy, I walked over and foiled his plan. He looked a little wounded, but I thought I detected a hint of a smile and a twinkle in his eyes.<\/p>\n
We closed our time in the village playing outside. We kicked soccer balls, threw Frisbees, played chase, and had a good time. When it was time to leave, I felt a tug on my jacket and noticed the young \u2019dodger\u2019 at my side. \u201cDios te bendiga,\u201d he said with a big smile. \u201cGod bless you,\u201d are beautiful words in any language.<\/p>\n
Who knows, it might have been a similar child who gave his lunch to Andrew to help Jesus feed the multitude. Jesus took five loaves and two fish and blessed thousands, but a little boy played an important part in the story. Don\u2019t ever sell a kid short.<\/p>\n
\u201cAndrew, Simon Peter\u2019s brother, spoke up, \u2018Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?\u2019 Jesus said, \u2018Have the people sit down.\u2019 There was plenty of grass in that place and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.\u201d John 6:8-11<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, \u2018Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?\u2019 He called a little child to Him, and placed the child among them. And He said: \u2018Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in My name welcomes Me.\u2019\u201d Matthew 18:1-5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After singing a few songs and sharing a Bible story with the children in the mountains of Ecuador, we always had some treats to distribute. Anywhere on earth it is wise to have a good strategy in gift-giving to prevent chaos. And there always seems to be a couple of \u2018artful dodgers\u2019 who attempt to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2706"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2710,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2706\/revisions\/2710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}