sunday best

Here's another story of the street boys that I didn't include on my previous post, but has been on my mind quite a bit recently.

The boys and their new shirts (Marvin's on the right!)

One day we handed out tshirts to the boys. While I admit it was a bit chaotic trying to find a shirt that fit specifically for each boy, the boys' faces and responses to receiving the shirts made the chaos fade. Handing out these shirts made my heart ache. I have a closet full of shirts (some of which I don't even wear) and there I was giving an 8 year-old boy his second or third shirt. Definitely a new perspective. These boys were thrilled about getting shirts. I remember some of the boys exclaiming, "I can wear it to church! And I can bring my new Bible too!"

Michelle putting a new shirt on 4 year-old Kasemu

The next day, we noticed that some of the boys didn't wear the shirts we had given them the day before. Our translator/house mom, Eva, asked them why they weren't wearing their new shirts, they told her that they were saving them so they would have something nice to wear to church. Their Sunday best is a clean tshirt. On other Sundays when they don't receive new shirts, they wear the shirt that is least dirty. My Sunday best? High heels, a nice sweater, straightened hair, and my big fat Bible. They go to church dirty with the same shoes that they wear on the streets. They are so thrilled about having a clean shirt to wear and being able to bring God's Word to church with them. I realized how I had taken even bringing my own Bible to church for granted. I say we all show up to church one day in tshirts and barefoot. God sees and loves what's on the inside anyway. I like their Sunday best better.