Saturday Morning in Alianza

Okay, before I can tell the story about last Saturday morning, I need to tell you about the previous Sunday. I have already blogged once about Alianza, so if you need details go back about two weeks. A week ago Sunday, I returned to Alianza with my buddy Al and some others from his church to help distribute food, cooking supplies, clothes, and Bibles to some of the people in the neighborhood. I had brought along a huge soccer-ball piñata for the kids, and it was filled with over 800 pieces of candy. I had also brought about 40 pictures of the kids that I had printed out from my previous trip, and they were going wild looking at the pictures and trying to decide who should get to keep each one.

When it came time to have the piñata with the kids, there were only about 20 or 25 of them there. I knew we had way too much candy for only two dozen kids, and I had seen many others running around the neighborhood, so I told them that they each needed to go find a friend to bring back and we would do the piñata when they returned. Immediately, one girl name Laura took off to go find someone. A few of the other kids started to leave, but then some began to complain that they didn’t know any other kids, and that the other children wouldn’t come anyway. I knew the truth was that these kids just didn’t want to share the candy. After waiting for about 15 minutes, with Laura being the only kid who wasn’t there, we set up the piñata and the kids began to take turns trying to whack it with a stick I had brought.



After all the little kids were finished, we blindfolded the bigger kids as they each took a turn. I was holding the rope, and kept swinging the piñata away from the stick, trying to prolong the event until Laura returned. Finally, the children began connecting solidly with the poor piñata, and candy soon covered the ground as screaming children and their mothers went diving into a massive heap, hording as much as they could get their hands on.



After the last piece of candy had been picked up and we had cleaned up what remained of the piñata, we were preparing to leave when Laura came walking around the corner with her little cousin. It had been about a half an hour since she had left, and she had walked across the entire neighborhood to retrieve the excited little second-grader. As they took in the scene, Laura looked at me with a confused and disappointed face, and put her head down. I apologized that there was no more candy, and asked several of the kids who were standing there with fifty or more pieces stuffed in their shirts if they could share with the girls. Each of them had a different excuse as to why they could not part with even a single piece of their candy. I was trying to figure out something to do when my friends yelled for me to get in the car, saying they needed to leave.

I spent a couple of days thinking about this situation and its spiritual and practical applications for our lives. I could preach a couple sermons on it, but I won’t. Instead, I will fast forward to last Saturday. Alfonso, Nolan and I left early in the morning for Alianza. I had two medium-sized gift bags, each filled to the brim with all different types of candy. This wasn’t the cheap candy that you typical use to stuff a piñata. These were high-quality sweets. Anyway, we arrived at about 10 a.m. and began to round up the children. Soon Hermana Lolis arrived. She is the woman who teaches the Bible study for the kids while Alfonso teaches the adults. I explained to her the situation, and she agreed that it was a good opportunity to teach all of the kids a lesson. Since her Spanish is much better than mine, she gave the lesson to the kids. Since my English is a little better than hers, I will relate it to you.

So here’s the deal. I asked all of the kids to do something, namely to bring back a friend to share in the piñata. Only one kid, Laura, did what I had asked. She missed out on the fun and candy. She was really disappointed. She probably wondered why she just hadn’t stayed like all the other kids. I am sure she felt like she had missed out by following directions. While all of the others got rewarded, she got nothing. Little did she know what I had planned. She had no idea about the reward that awaited her at the end of the story.

Just like I had asked the kids to do something, often God asks us to do things. He actually has given us an instruction manual for how we are to live. Sometimes we feel like if we follow His instructions we will miss out on all the fun that everyone else is having. A lot of times, we get disappointed when we see people get rewarded who aren’t doing what God has told us to do. Many times we may feel like it isn’t worth it to do what God has asked of us. Just like Laura didn’t know what I was planning for her, we often don’t know the prize that God is planning for us. We need to be patient and realize that we will be rewarded for doing what He asks.

As Hermana Lolis told this story to the children, she didn’t use any names, but Laura, her little cousin, and several of the other kids began to realize that she was talking about them. Near the end, I got the two bags of candy out of my backpack, and gave them to the little girls. It was so great to see their smiles, especially Laura’s, as she realized that she was being rewarded for doing the right thing. Some of the other children began to congratulate her, and I could see some of those who had refused to share thinking about their actions. It was evident from their reactions that the kids really understood the lesson, and I hope it encourages them to start making the right decisions, even when it is difficult or may seem like they are missing out.

To conclude this story, I just want to mention that the little cousin was also rewarded because of Laura’s actions. Laura sacrificed being there for the piñata because she wanted her cousin and best friend to be able to share in it as well. Some of us need to sacrifice some things so that others may be able to share in the reward. If you are a Christian, God is asking you to go out and find some people to join in His great piñata party. It will be a sacrifice, and you will definitely miss out on some things that everyone else seems to be enjoying, but when all their cheap candy is gone, there will be a great reward waiting for you, and for all those that you are able to bring along.

Just one final note: After receiving their huge bags of candy, guess what the girls did? They immediately started sharing with all the kids, even the ones who wouldn’t share with them the week before. Las niñas de Alianza are not only learning, they are teaching.

Laura (on the right) and her little cousin