Today the only tv station in the entire country of East Timor came up to film the orphan girls acting out different stories from the Bible. All 120 of the girls had a part to play, and they were all amazing! They have been rehearsing for this play for the past 2 months, and in one of the scenes, Ulla (a volunteer from Germany who has been here since May) played the part of Jesus! Ulla asked me to come to the orphanage an hour early to help the younger girls get into costume. We figured that would be plenty of time-boy were we wrong!
All of the younger girls and the “helpers” were gathered in one big changing room. I was shocked by how patient the girls were as we were helping them to dress and throughout the whole day of play production. If a helper wasn’t available to help a girl to get ready, the girl would just sit or stand patiently until someone addressed her. No little girl ever ran up and tugged on me (or any of the other helpers) asking us to help them next. They all patiently waited their turn.
I was really not very good at dressing the girls, and it took me several attempts to wrap the garments around them the right way, tie the rope around their waists so the garment would fit properly (and not show too much skin), and fix the headpiece just right. Coordinating all the separate elements and making them all look good was a nightmare! Thankfully the girls were very patient and kind with me. The older ones were even able to tell me what each piece of clothing functioned as (i.e. a sash, a belt, a headdress, etc) which was a huge help to me. The first few girls I helped ended up getting readjusted by Ulla or the other sister there, but soon I kind of got the hang of it and dressed the girls in a decent enough way that they didn’t have to be re-done. Some of the girls had really unruly hair that would not stay under their headdress. They patiently tied it up the best they could, and I helped them pin and tie it back as well.
I was working frantically to get each girl’s costume to look “just right”, but no matter how hard I tried, I felt like I just couldn’t make them look perfect. In spite of myself, I laughed and thought of Jesus’ original twelve disciples-none of them were perfect, either. They were just ordinary men whom God used in an extraordinary manner. Among the twelve were fishermen, a tax collector, and a revolutionary. The Gospels record the constant failings, struggles, and doubts of these twelve men who followed Jesus Christ. After witnessing Jesus' resurrection and ascension into heaven, the Holy Spirit transformed the disciples into powerful men of God who turned the world upside down. I felt better remembering these simple truths and continued working hard and doing MY best to help the children look THEIR best. No, they weren’t perfect, but God doesn’t expect perfection from us, so why should I?
Once everyone was in costume, we headed to the large school room where the production was going to be held. The scenery looked really fantastic! All of the girls were sitting quietly behind the cameras on several mats laid out for them by the sisters. We waited a good 45 minutes while the camera crew got set up. I was shocked by how patient and quiet the girls were while they were waiting for the tv crew to set up, and also as they waited for their turn to perform. I never heard any complaining and all of the kids in the audience sat patiently, quietly and still. I had heard the play itself was only 15 minutes, but it took over 3 hours to shoot!
One of the guys on the camera crew was wearing a shirt that said, “I see angels around me.” I thought that was the coolest shirt! I think too often we look for the bad in people. We focus on the guy who cuts us off in traffic or who took the last brownie in the lunch line. We don’t seem to dwell on the neighbor who gave us a friendly smile and wave goodbye as we headed to work, the person who held the door open for us as we left a building, the janitor who swept and mopped the floors so that we would have a safe and clean environment to work and play in. It’s clear to see that the girls and sisters I am working with are angels in disguise, but sometimes we miss or overlook others in our daily lives who make our day just a little bit brighter or easier by a kind gesture they may have done. How optimistic and positive to focus on and draw attention to the “do-gooders” in this world, instead of dwelling on the not so nice actions we all do from time to time.
The play itself was really cute. The kids all did a fantastic job. There were several different scenes, each with its own musical number. Each girl sang when it was her turn and did the correct dance moves in unison with the others. The play depicted various stories from the Bible. In the opening scene, a pregnant Mary visited Elizabeth. Soon Mary had baby Jesus with her and she danced around the room with Him in her arms. There was also a scene with Zacchaeus (who sang my favorite song of the play) which was really cute-it had great props, acting and singing! At one point Zacchaeus even climbed up into a paper “tree” to get a better glimpse of Jesus. Another scene depicted the woman at the well. In Ulla’s scene as Jesus, she urged the crowd around her to “Let the children come to me!” The children all sang a song and she went around and patted each one on the head. At another point they were all seated around her and one of the kids asked her, “Lord, teach us how to pray.” I believe those were all of the Bible stories included in the play, but there may have been others I am unaware of because I couldn’t actually understand much of the dialogue in the play.
That's so cute! And awesome that they were on TV!
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(PS: I don't think I said it, but HAPPY 22ND! I hope it was awesome! And you're email on the 7th made my day...it was pretty sucky otherwise, because I had 2 midterms and I was soooo tired).