2 bikes, 30 kids, 3 check points

There are about thirty children who live on the campus where we reside. And there are two bikes. And those two bikes belong to my two children.

What this means is that there is a track, worn down through the grass, creating a circle around our house. And on that track, children of all ages and sizes take turns riding Frankie and Johnny's bikes in circles. Yes, a 13 year old rides Johnny's 5 year-old sized bike, knees pointing out at very awkward angles, because that is the only bike the kid will get the chance to ride. And yes, the 2 year old sits perched on the bike seat, while older kids hold her on, because she can't stand to be left out of the fun.

But my favorite part is what the kids do who are waiting for their turn with the bikes. Frankie, Johnny, and their friends have created a game called "license." In the game, as two children zoom around on the bikes, the remaining kids create check points, to stop the bicyclists and demand their "papers." The children on the bikes must produce their license (a leaf off one of our trees), and the "police" decide if it is real or fake. If it is fake, the leaf is ripped up, and the child speeds away on the bike, a fugitive. If it is real, the leaf is returned, and the child speeds away on the bike...All of the outcomes involve children zooming on bikes, but they also allow for ripping up leaves and shouting at speeding fugitives, so everyone is happy.

I love the creativity that I witness in the children here: They transform the inconvenience of a police check point into a rousing game of "license." Only 2 bikes for swarms of kids? No problem, they'll just find some leaves and create fake documents. Want to play cricket? Well, that stick will make the perfect bat, and they'll just grab a rock to use as a ball. As I write this, our kids are outside playing on a group "swing," created with a plank of wood. The children here make soccer balls out of plastic bags, and they create amazing cars and trucks (galimotos) using bent wire and plastic bottles. Joel and I watch kites fly high in the air, maneuvered by a child who transforms a thrown out plastic bag and a few sticks into this wondrous toy.

If we had that kind of creativity, I wonder what kind of transformation could happen. Can we look at a discarded plastic bag and see the beginnings of a high-flying kite? Can we look at an old soda bottle and realize that it would make the perfect wheel for a galimoto? Can we find a piece of old twine and decide to create a soccer ball? Can we look at 30 children, see only 2 bicycles, and realize that a hysterical game is about to be invented?

It is easy to give into the "not enough" mentality, especially here. There is not enough food, there is not enough education, there are not enough doctors, there are not enough clinics. But the people here do not give in. They simply do not. They look at what they do have, and they transform their world. They share the food they grow, they volunteer to teach orphans, they pool their money to arrange transport for a sick friend. They are creative, they are resourceful, and they don't give up. Right now, at Mandevu, the women are using old clothes - shirts, pants, skirts - and cutting them into squares, to sew into blankets. They will sell these blankets and use them to raise money for their many, many ministries. Yes, indeed. They look at an old, ripped dress and they see the beginnings of a beautiful quilt.

I am trying to learn from these wonderful children and these inspiring women, as even with all of my enormous privilege, I sometimes give into the "not enough" mentality. I worry that my Chichewa is not good enough, that I do not have enough to offer to my job, that I don't have enough savings, enough retirement, enough skills, enough knowledge. Can you imagine? The children can transform a plastic bag into a kite; the women can transform a dirty shirt into a blanket; and I cannot trust that I have enough?

The creativity, the trust, the faith here is amazing. And I hope it can inspire all of us to remember that we have enough, we are enough, and we can offer what we have. For when we look at the world with creative, hopeful, faithful eyes, we can transform garbage into galimotos, broken fabric into warm comfort, poverty and sorrow into a hope-filled future.

2 bikes, 30 kids, 3 check points, and 1 happy mother. Thank you, lovely children, for reminding me that through the grace of God, we have enough. We are enough. Amen.