Children's Month.

May was Children's Month at the church that I attended in Mbonisweni. My friend, Kacy spoke at church about the importance of loving and caring for your children, and the difference it makes in their lives and hearts. My friend, Anda, who traveled to Africa with me, is an amazing artist who brought her skills and talents with her and incorporated them into Kacy's sunday message. Anda had the idea of creating a mosaic, that everyone in the church will get to be a part of, starting with the children. She chose to design a tree, representing each and every part of a family, starting with the roots representing the fathers, the trunk of the tree and its branches to represents the mothers, and the fruit of the tree to represent the children. This month is Youth Month, and my idea for the youths involvement was that they were to be the background of the mosaic, meaning that they were to be the positive surroundings that surround the children of the community who lead them in the right directions.

So, we started with the children. After Kacy's message during the church service, with the help of the pastor and his translating skills, we invited five children at a time to chose a parent or adult to go up to the front of the church with them and help them put their piece on the mosaic, and asked that the adults speak love and kind, promising words to the children, allowing them to truly feel loved and cared for. The process went beautifully. As each child walked up one by one to place their piece of art down, you could see and feel the love that was flowing out over them, some for the very first time ever.

This month, the youth have started their part in the mosaic, filling in the background with broken pieces of tile. I find it ironic in the way that some of the youth are so completely broken, some not having parents to raise them or a safe home to live in, and however, with Gods love and the love of others in the community, they can rise up, learn the true difference between what is right and what is wrong, and in the end, create a positive atmosphere to help raise the children of the community the right way. The staff members of Ten Thousand Homes have written prayers and words of encouragement on the background of the mosaic before the youth get to place their tile down and cover the background. Stay tuned to see the mosaic come together!