Claire Hampton: Mission Moments

I remember walking down the dirt path that led to the little, one room church. There was no door.  There were no windows; the floor was the same dirt as the road. I could only imagine how cold it must be in the winter. All I knew is that it was extremely hot in the middle of July. A lot of the children were barefoot and wearing faded clothing. I felt my heart go out to them. I felt like I needed to do something. I felt compassion like I never had before.

Picking a seat somewhere in the back, I was unsure of what to do. A little boy of about seven or eight sat down beside me. This made me smile. He was so brave; it takes courage to walk up to a stranger, but in that moment I felt like he could have been my little brother. I smiled down at him and attempted the little Spanish I knew, saying ‘Hola’ and asking ‘Cuál es tu nombre?’ and ‘Cuántos años tienes?’ My voice was shaky as I tried so hard to roll my r’s, just praying that he could understand me. A whole two seconds passed and the little boy did not say anything. I took three years of French and I guess it showed by the weird look he gave me. Deciding not to risk butchering any more Spanish, I just kept smiling. After the short message and a coloring activity, we all went outside to play soccer. This was a little more my speed, as you don’t need words to kick a ball around. As I started walking down the road, four young girls came running up beside me. One of them took my hand, and right then I knew that no amount of Spanish could ever translate the love that was shared in this little moment. The other little girls held each other’s hands and we all walked to the soccer field together.

To start off the soccer activity, we stood in a circle and passed the ball back and forth. This allowed us to interact with the kids without having to speak as much Spanish. Through the whole exercise, the little girl never let go of my hand. I felt a warmth in my heart. I felt needed. I felt like this was a once-in-a-lifetime moment and I never wanted it to end but I finally had to let go of her hand to play in the soccer game.  However, I knew that another person from my mission group would embrace her with open arms. As soon as the game started, I completely forgot about the language barrier. Still to this day I do not know the name of that little girl, but she has forever changed my heart. From the time I stepped foot into the one room church to the time I stepped onto the bus to go home, my heart never stopped filling with and spilling forth compassion.

Tags: Claire Hampton, God In Our City, Huntsville, Mission Moments, Our City On A Hill