Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
— Psalm 37:3-6
We begin our day at the Raleigh Rehabilitation Center, where we sing for patients with severe medical histories, and are in need of physical rehabilitation. Prayer permeates our conversations with them; multiple xprods pray for healing over the patients. We sing a song with Willie-May, a patient who went to music school and used to perform vocally. She now lies ridden in bed. Her voice is still clear and beautiful, and we fill the room with the sounds of Amazing Grace and Blessed Assurance.
“I met a lady, I think her name was Lakeesha. She had this really pretty hair, she told me it was a wig, lol. She asked for healing for her hand. It was bent inwards. She said she couldn’t sing, and I said if you feel like you can’t sing, you should beatbox! And then I taught her how to beatbox and it was really cute.” – Jessica
We spend some time enjoying the beautiful day the Lord has made at Pullen Park, where we eat lunch, do devos, enjoy candy-colored tulips that look like they were taken out of Disneyland, and ride a carousel and choo-choo train.
Brief Interlude
“It’s so hot I can feel my skin” – Yeye
Then, we head to Hilltop Home to sing for mentally disabled children. It is a difficult gig – we struggle with trusting that our music will reach their ears. But we receive a variety of responses from the children that delight us. A young boy called Gavin has a set of emotion buttons he uses to communicate: happy, sad, urgent. He pounds on the happy button in response to our music. A young girl dressed in purple, Jessa, cries out in delight to our music. During Dongho’s solo, he makes eye contact with her. Afterwards, Dongho sits before her. Her face is frozen in a permanent expression, but she fixes her eyes on Dongho’s. For a moment there is a connection, as if she is saying, “I see you.” During xprod’s nightly debrief meeting, we linger on these small responses we receive from Jessa and Gavin – it is fruit enough to sustain and encourage us in our ministry.
Unlike Gavin and Jessa, most of the children are unresponsive to our music. After our gig, I kneel down before child named John. His tongue lolls out of his mouth; his eyes darting all around, never focusing on anything. Other children stare blindly in front of them, blank-faced, saliva bubbling from their mouths. I begin to imagine what goes on behind their empty stares. Inside their minds, they smile because of our music. In their hearts, they laugh because of our message of love.
For now, the fruit I imagine is kept away from our sight. We can’t break open the chains of their disability and understand the souls within. But this fruit, unseen, is far more beautiful than the fruit which is seen. You probably call this fruit “delayed gratification.” It is the hidden fruit that won’t be revealed until we come face to face with them and with the Lord in the last time. I am reminded of Matthew 25:40: Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Singing for these children was singing for the Lord.
More than anything, I am touched by each of the staff members. They pour themselves into each child, investing in them their patient care; their voices soothe and calm them. The staff are not ashamed of their love for the least of these; they are workers approved in God’s sight. They have submitted themselves to the least of these, and thus they have submitted to God; they will be exalted in the final time.
Our final gig is with the youth group at TMBC, John’s church. We share a meal with them, and get to know their youth. Craig, Jessica, Helen, and John party to the beat of the Cup Song with some youth members. Matthew and I talk to Kyle and Damian, who are brilliant conversation-makers.
During Q&A, the youth won’t stop asking about our gaming habits (“Do any of you play Fortnite?”), but eventually we steer the Q&A towards “What is something you have learned, spiritual or not, that you wish you knew earlier?” We have a lot to share, as good college students do. God has borne in us so much fruit. And he will continue to bear in us so much more!
<3,
Erica
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.