Chicken Soup

Our first order of the day was to make ready the frozen chicken heads and feet by cutting off the beaks and toenails, respectively. Together with Pastor Pedro, his wife Alicia and Evelia we stood on the cement slab around a small wooden table in the neighboorhood called Divino Nino. Our knives were busy as we listened to Alicia recount her story. She was on her way to visit family when her bus flipped over. She was thought to be dead and taken to the morgue. Once the mistake was discovered she was taken to the hospital to recover from a crushed pelvis and internal injuries. She spent a year on a flat wooden bed and six months in a wheel chair. One day a man came to her with the word of the Lord, ¨You will walk again.¨ Two day later she walked in to her church!
Next we cut a dozen heads of garlic and a big bag of tomatoes. Evelia stirred the chicken heads and feet with a long wooden paddle as smoke from the fire under the huge cooking pot swirled under the tin roof. We talked about God´s faithfulness to us and how good it is to adore our Father.
The mint leaves were washed, chopped and added to the soup. We agree, it is sweet to know that we are brothers and sisters in this wonderful Kingdom of God.
The soup was ready for the first group of 150 hungry school children. They lined up patiently with their plastic bowls in hand.
I can´t decide who was more grateful to be here today, the beautiful school children or us.