Trey’s Mission Trip Moment

When I look back at everything over those 10 weeks in Lapwai, Idaho, I soon begin to realize how much truly did happen to me and how much I experienced. Though there are countless stories to be told, one in particular has stood out for me ever since I returned home to Nebraska.
 
On the third night of being in Lapwai, we went to a community movie night in the park. It was an excellent opportunity to begin to get to know the faces of the children who live in that community. As we began watching the movie, a 7-year-old boy named Makaio came and sat next to me, eventually sitting in my lap. As I was talking with Makaio, I began talking about faith and Jesus with him, sharing how exciting it was for us to be able to learn about him at Kids Club if he decided to come. His response took me aback: “Jesus is weird. I don’t like Him. I actually don’t really know who he is. He’s just weird.” I chuckled a little to simply hear his response, and we continued to watch the movie.
 
Makaio came to Kids Club every day throughout the entire summer – always greeting me with a warm hug and a huge smile. Makaio become my buddy that summer, always known as the first Kids Club kid I came into contact with.
 

On week 8, Makaio and his 9-year-old brother came to Kids Club very sad and with heavy hearts. I asked them what was going on, and they said they were no longer able to stay at home alone because the people who lived below them were causing trouble for them. They began to cry because they said they were afraid of what was going to happen to them, that they might have to move and that they don’t know when they would be moving. Hearing this, an adult leader came over to Makaio and told him that if he is ever afraid or sad or lonely, he can talk to God and Jesus about whatever is going on. I just knew Makaio’s response would be the same as it was at the movie – that Jesus is weird.
 
But his response blew me away, and I will always remember him turning to me and saying, “Oh, really. Well, Trey… I don’t know how to pray. Can you teach me how to pray to God so that I won’t be scared anymore?” I instantly told him, “Absolutely!”
 
Once we got to Kids Club, I sat with Makaio in my lap and told him how simple it was to talk to God and Jesus and to pray to them when things aren’t going the right way. I also gave Makaio a Jesus Storybook Bible. This soon became his favorite book, bringing it to Kids Club every day of the week, remembering what page people left off on so others could start again. By the end of the summer, he could answer any question from that book you could think of because he had read it so many times.
 
This was definitely the highlight of my summer as it showed that God is alive in our world today and he is working wonders, even in small children. Makaio went from thinking Jesus is weird and not knowing who Jesus is, to being able to respond to any question you could ask him in regards to the different stories in that book. This moment has stayed with me since I returned home, and I will never truly forget that experience of being the first person to show Makaio how to pray. I got to become Makaio’s demo of how to follow Jesus.
 

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This post was written by Trey Stuthman who was a Kids Club staff this past summer in Nez Perce.