Thanksgiving Devotions: Day Ten

I’m Thankful for JESUS!

“For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone.  In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” Ephesians 2:18-22

Fifteen-year-old Katelyn sat looking out the plane’s window at the white puffy clouds below with the rising sun turning them pink and orange.  The motion of the plane, the darkening lights, and the soft music in her wireless headphones were making her sleepy.  She retrieved her neck pillow, wrapped her favorite fleece blanket around her and then closed her eyes.

“Only a few more hours until I am in Zambia!” she thought. 

Katelyn had been on long plane rides before, traveling to grandma’s house for Thanksgiving or Christmas, but she had never had over 20 hours of flying to get to her destination before. “It will be worth it,” she told herself as she was packing up for her two weeks in Africa with her family.  She planned to visit vulnerable children in Lusaka and spend a week with them during Camp Life, a Bible Camp for children, with Family Legacy Missions International. She would have her own group of ten girls to love on during the week and was looking forward to having them play with her blonde hair and teaching them how to play volleyball, her favorite sport. 

The first glimpse of her girls on Monday afternoon made her heart melt as she saw their wide smiles with missing front teeth. She loved feeling their huge rib-crushing hugs which made her fall over to the dusty ground.  “This is what I came for,” she thought.

The rest of the afternoon couldn’t have been better. The girls from Kanyama (a community within Lusaka) bonded with Katelyn over songs during the Big Group session, fingernail polish, apples for a snack, brushing hair, and, of course, playing some volleyball, bumping the ball back and forth.  They were really getting the hang of it.

But little Poline stuck out from all the other girls.  It wasn’t her dirty and torn clothes, shoes with her toes bursting out the holes in front of them, or her afro that made Poline special.  It was her heart.  Poline raised her hands during the worship time with her eyes closed and belted out the songs like she truly believed the words.  At snack time she was the first to make sure that they all thanked God for the food.  She was the first to serve Katelyn by carrying her bag or filling her water bottle. Yes, there was something different about this little eight-year-old, a good something.  

Katelyn was super excited to get to Camp on Tuesday, being reunited with her girls would be so good.  As their bus rounded the corner, her heart started beating faster.  She put down her bag and braced herself for the tackling hug from her ten girls. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. There was one missing. Who was it? In the chaos of hugs and greetings, Katelyn realized almost instantly that it was Poline’s smile who was missing from the group.

“Where is Poline?” Katelyn asked the other girls.

The girls looked at each other, being a little too timid to share the story.

Finally, Vainess spoke up. “Poline isn’t here because she has to be home today to take care of her momma and the twins. Her momma is sick and can’t manage today without her.”

“Oh, no. That’s too bad.” Katelyn remarked. “That’s a lot of responsibility for such a young girl,” she thought.

The girls found their usual spot on the playground to play and eat snack before Big Group session, but as Katelyn hugged and played with each of the girls there was just something missing… Poline.  The day was filled with giggles, volleyball, sidewalk chalk, and jumping rope, which was a new fascination for the group of girls. 

As the girls went home and Katelyn went back to her room, she prayed for Poline, her mom, and the huge responsibility that she had.  Katelyn begged God that Poline would return tomorrow.

Getting out of her warm bed in the morning on Wednesday, Katelyn was full of hope, knowing that she would see ALL her precious girls, especially Poline.  As the buses dropped off boys and girls, she was getting very impatient for the girls from Kanyama to be there.  With just five minutes to go before Big Group Session was to begin, the green and white striped bus came up the hill toward the Legacy Center with the children hanging out the windows, singing, and banging on the sides of the bus. 

Soon enough the girls filed off the bus and ran to her open arms.  She did a head count twice, only to be disappointed to not find Poline in their group again.  The girls could tell she was concerned.

“Her momma is really bad this morning, Aunty Katelyn. She isn’t even able to get out of her bed. Poline just had to stay home again.” Mirriam comforted her leader by giving her a hug and a big smile.

It was then and there that Katelyn decided to talk to the Camp leadership to let them know what was happening.  Her heart was breaking for this family, and she wondered what she could do.

On Wednesday evening one of the leaders of Camp found Katelyn after dinner.  “We don’t know all of the details about Poline and her family.  But tomorrow all the groups are going around Lusaka to see the communities that the children live in.  We have arranged that you, your group, your mom, and her group, and the social services team will go to Poline’s house to check on that situation. Let’s pray for that meeting right now.”

They bowed their heads together and prayed as tears streamed down Katelyn’s cheeks. “How can a little girl carry this weight of responsibility?  How is this even fair?” Katelyn wondered, but she asked God to intervene in this situation and bring healing to Poline’s mom and a childhood back to Poline.

Katelyn had a hard time sleeping.  She didn’t know what it would be like in the community of Kanyama.  She figured there would be dusty roads, people everywhere, and homes, but in the morning, she wasn’t prepared for the level of poverty that she would actually find. As she walked through Kanyama with her nine girls, Katelyn could see dirty children in the streets without shoes on, could smell the stench from the outdoor toilets, could hear loud music blaring from speakers on top of the roofs, and could see trash literally everywhere she looked.  “How can people live like this?”  she thought.

As they weaved down the lanes leading to Poline’s house, the girls held tightly to Katelyn’s hands. They approached a cement structure and heard babies crying from behind the curtained doorway. “This must be Poline’s house,” Katelyn thought.

Poline bolted out of the house to her friends for a group hug.  While the social services team talked with Poline’s mom and cared for the twins, Poline enjoyed being outside with the other girls, chatting in Nyanja all about the days of Camp that she had missed.  Katelyn brought her the fruit that she had missed which was quite a treat for her as well.  It was fun standing in the streets singing the Camp songs that were on Katelyn’s phone and quite a crowd gathered around them to join in the fun.

When the songs ended, Katelyn grabbed Poline’s hand and found a quiet place to chat together.  Poline was able to share about her mom’s illness, her dad who lives in Kitwe, and 18-month-old twins who are full of energy. “This is just too much for a little girl to handle on her own.  I want to rescue her from this life!” thought Katelyn.

One of the staff members came over to the pair and shared with them the plan that they had devised with Poline’s mom.  They arranged for the medicines that she needed to be delivered that day and managed to find a staff member to care for the twins so Poline could attend the last day of Camp Life.

“Well, it is time to go now, Katelyn.  Let’s head back to the bus,” the staff member said. 

With tears streaming down her face, Katelyn blurted out, “Oh, Poline, I don’t want to say goodbye to you.  I want to stay here with you and give you all I have – a new home, new clothes, food for each day, the chance to go to school.  I am so sorry for this life that you have here.”

“Don’t cry for me, Katelyn.  My mom says that we have Jesus, so I have all I need. I am happy with the life I have here… my God in Heaven gave it to me!”  Poline wiped the tears from Katelyn’s eyes and gave her another one of her famous hugs before parting ways. This little girl had more wisdom than most of the teens that Katelyn knew back in the States.

“How can that be?” Katelyn wondered as she stepped onto the bus.  “I have Jesus, so I have all I need? That must be what makes Poline different from the other girls. Jesus. He gives her joy.  He gives her peace and love.  Jesus.  He is all we need. I can trust HIM with Poline’s life.”

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

What does today’s final devotion make you thankful for?

Where do you think Poline learned that kind of love and joy?

How can you be like that in your own life?  Do you need to change something in your priorities to make Jesus number one?

Why is a life without Jesus so empty?

ACTION ITEMS:

~ Listen to this song: “If I Got Jesus” by Ben Fuller (Ben Fuller – If I Got Jesus (Lyric Video) – YouTube)

~ Think of someone that you know that doesn’t have Jesus yet.  Devise a plan to share the plan of salvation with them before the end of 2024.

SCRIPTURE MEMORIZATION:

(Psalm 100 is a classic portion of Scripture for our families to memorize during this Thanksgiving season.  While some families are accustomed to memorizing verses, this may be your family’s first time.  Whatever season you are in, pick either a verse or two or the whole chapter to work on these next 10 days leading up to Thanksgiving.  It will be a sweet memory from this holiday with your family. You may even want to challenge your family to memorize these verses and then say them together at your Thanksgiving celebration.  If you need ideas on how to memorize Scripture with your family, click here to see some of my favorite ideas.)

Psalm 100

(A psalm. For giving grateful praise.)

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.   

Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is He who made us, and we are His;
We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise;
Give thanks to Him and praise His name.

For the Lord is good, and His love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all generations.

(If you have already memorized Psalm 100, you can try Psalm 95.)

PRAYER TIME:

Thank Jesus that He came to be your Savior and has made a way for you to have a personal relationship with Him.  Thank Him that He fills your life with peace, hope, joy, and love.  Ask Him to make you a bold witness so that others can have that same relationship with Him. 

Another wonderful Thanksgiving Song is Jesus Thank You (Renew Cover) – Sovereign Grace. If you have time this weekend, listen to this one, too.

If you are interested in learning more about our work in Zambia or joining us for Camp Life, click here to be taken to Family Legacy Missions International.