When four-year old Dajanaira first came to the Child Development Center at Verbo Sur in Managua, Nicaragua, she was rebellious. She wouldn’t follow instructions, she would run off, she was destructive and quite a fighter. But, this is not so today. There has been great change.
This Child Development Center is so much more than child care, more than help for working mothers. It is a place where the tangible love of Christ is displayed through love and care. It is a ministry of the local church, and it is having a redemptive and transformational effect on this precious little girl.
Dajanaira is now happy and very responsible for a four-year-old. She helps with dishes and cleaning up around the center. She tells her parents they need to thank God for their food before they eat and has convinced them to come to church. They’re not Christians…yet…but the Spirit is at work in this family.
God tells us in the Great Commandment found in Matthew 22:34-40 that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind; and to love our neighbors more than ourselves. The caretakers at the Child Development Center are doing just that. They are loving God by loving their neighbor. They are extending the love they have received in Christ to their community. They are taking care of children in need, children in danger of abuse and exploitation. And they are doing so in a winsome, inviting, humble, and beautiful way.