Because You Love Us

For two weeks during the summer program, we have groups of intrepid high school students (and their extremely brave, good-natured adult chaperones) come stay at Harbor House to live and serve with us.  Two weeks ago, we had a group from Yuba City, California and this week we have a group from Keller, Texas.  They spend their mornings helping with upkeep or cleaning in the house or helping out at other local organizations, and they help with the summer youth program from 12-5 pm.  These groups are called TOTAL (Transforming Oakland Through Action and Love) and tend to come every year.

Today, our very youngest kids, entering kindergarten and first grade, were in the cooking center.  They were making salad for the TOTAL group's dinner, which mostly consisted of ripping lettuce into very, very small pieces.  While the kids were happily shredding lettuce, one of the adults asked the kids if they knew why the group was there.  Hakim, age four, shouted excitedly, "Because you love us!!"

The group wondered if the kids understood why they were making a salad that they weren't getting to eat.  When the same group member asked the kids if they understood why they were making the salad, they all yelled, "Because we love you!"

The kids are beginning to understand that we're all part of God's family; whether we're from Texas or Oakland, regardless of our race, and whether or not we even know each other's names.