"...to visit widows and orphans..."

Today we went to play with kids at an orphanage by Joanna's house.  We brought them crayons, markers, stickers, and paper, and we drew with them and helped them practice their English and they helped us practice our Bahasa (the Indonesian word for "the language").  

When we first got there, all but one of the kids were down the street doing their Qur'an recitations.  We walked down to meet them just as they were getting out, and walked with them back to the orphanage.  After they changed, Caroline, Abbie, and Joanna started drawing and playing with the stickers, and I helped one of the kids salvage some old wood to build a chicken coop.  

The kids said several times that they wanted to trade skin with us and be white - we told them that in America, a lot of people want to be tan and brown like them.  They also wanted our noses.  I had never really thought about it, but Europeans have very prominent noses compared to Asian/Southeast Asian noses.  

When we started to leave, they wanted to get our autographs and take pictures with us.  Cries of "satu lagi!" (one more!) were heard for the next 20 minutes, and picture after picture in endless combinations were arranged - and just when we thought we were done, another person or camera would appear and the whole process would start over again.

In all honesty, handing out stickers and drawing with these kids doesn't seem like a huge spiritual act, and I don't want to make it sound like it was.  There is a verse in James that says that religion that God accepts is to visit widows and orphans in their distress and to keep yourself unstained by the world.  I've always loved this verse because it takes something big and complicated, and makes it really simple and practical.  It's not hard to play with kids.