Beth and I sat in her kitchen where we’ve had many a deep conversation over tea, coffee or hot chocolate in vain attempts at solving the problems of our world or at least our individual lives. That afternoon was no different except that a new Longhorn mug sat warmly between my hands and a picture of a little girl neither of us had any knowledge of the last time we hovered over the bar together was magnetized to the fridge and to both of our hearts.
Without any transition from our prior topic, Beth said, “Avery asked whether or not she has a nightgown.”
Without any hint as to who she was, I asked, “ The doll?” wondering if she meant the toy clad in traditional Vietnamese attire I’d brought over that morning.
“Nomatter.” Beth corrected my assumption nodding her head in the direction of the picture now on a refrigerator in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park that Blanca took over a month ago in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The question from Beth’s four year old is still swirling around my head today. Not because I’m trying to figure out a way to get pajamas to all the orphans at the Musha Wevana Children’s Home (although perhaps we should), but because little Avery gets it.
She’s not even old enough to attend school. Her life consists of making mudcakes in the backyard, helping her younger brother find his blankie, and playing with her prized collection of horses. She’s never been outside the country. She can have no real concept of the far off land called Zimbabwe where the economy is collapsing and children are left without parents due to the AIDS epidemic and a host of other harsh realities, but her young mind’s eye still has the power to see.
She saw Nomatter wearing a torn white dress in the photo. Avery has dresses too. She also has warm fuzzy footy pajamas for the cold nights and pretty princess nightgowns for warmer ones with Dora sets thrown in for variety.
“Mommy, does she have a nightgown?”
I’m not sure how the logic worked out inside her little blond head, but somehow she moved from the story her mom told of Nomatter and the two dimensional photo she saw, to identifying with a living breathing human being… a girl like herself who should have a nightgown too.
Eyes to See 
Oh for the heart and eyes of a child!
This is why I want to take kids with me on my next mission trip.
How great it is to see our kids affected in such a profound way! I remember as a little girl thinking of the far off place of Africa and all the little hungry children, that my parents reminded me of regularly, who would gladly take my food.
I used to try to imagine what their life was like. I remember in my little kid mind it always looked dusty and brown. Hopefully my kids will have the opportunity to do more than imagine.
I took my 16 year old daughter to Cambodia in Jan 09. We were with 9 more from our church. She participated in the medical clinics we held, visited the orphanage, ate the local food without hesitation, played with the children we met, and generally had a very positive experience. I was a little concerned about the trauma she might experience when she saw naked begging children, or abandoned children along the border, or the street children whose parents died of AIDS. When she got back home she told her mother that seeing all this motivates her to be the best mom she can be when that season of life comes.
I’m glad to hear Avery’s heart. Sometimes they see the down to earth details of want more than adults do. It reminds me of how excited the kids in Latin America were for socks after so much flooding when they got their Operation Christmas child boxes one year. Nightgowns and socks!
Wow, that’s a really cool post. The fact that Avery “gets it” is deep and provoking. But the way you wrote it is what made it so deep and provoking not only for you but also for your blog audience. Good job on the reporting!