I went into the past weekend feeling weird. Last weekend was Cana Weekend for CFC, and the North American Kid’s Village for KFC. And I knew that this would be the last KV I would ever lead. I kept expecting an onslaught of hectic phone calls and frantic last minute preparations in the last few days – even on the Friday. But none of that came. God really blessed the KV with an amazing service team that really just wanted to do their best to reach out Christ to the kids. And I kept wondering why God didn’t ask more of me during the KV.
And then Saturday came. And along with it, came a perfect little boy – James. During morning kid’s praise you couldn’t help but notice him. Standing in the very front, away from everyone, just clapping and dancing along. But after, he didn’t want to be with the other kids. He didn’t want to interact with any of them. James has Down Syndrome. He wasn’t able to talk, or really communicate what he was feeling or what he wanted. Aside from a few bits of sign language, he mostly just wandered around, sometimes angry, sometimes calm, sometimes full of joy. And I knew that this is what God had prepared me for. He wanted me to focus my time and energy on this little, perfect boy.
I kept remembering what my ate Candy once said about people with disabilities: these people are sinless. And that entire weekend, even though I definitely spent more than 75% of that weekend outside in the hallways, I truly felt honored to be able to serve this perfect example of God’s love. More than any other KFC event has done, James taught me patience and understanding, he taught me love and kindness. More than any session or workshop could have done, James taught me to follow Jesus.