A Pair of Slippers

I was having my boy students for the first time in the afternoon (I have been having boys for my morning class) and one of the boys came in with this pair of slippers.
This pair of slippers caught my attention and I was intrigued by how much it has been stretched of its lifespan. And it just caused me to think of the kids back home of the same age and their possession of branded expensive slippers and sandals that have been so much taken for granted. Or even for myself, I don’t remember possessing such a pair of worn-out slippers. It was in witnessing the survival with the minimum possible and in being content with it that touched my heart. The solution (my country people has the propensity to want to find a solution to something that is considered ‘a problem’, something imperfect or a shortfall of a certain standard) was not to be compassionate towards the owner of this pair of slippers and to replace a pair of slippers for him. Most crucially, the lesson that I can draw from is the contentment of this boy and his attitude that tells me physical comfort is immaterial. I asked myself, “How much of physical comfort do I ‘demand’ for myself?” And I wonder to what extent am I willing to let our Lord stretch me to His mould, plan and purposes for my life like the way the slippers have stretched its lifespan.

Last week I visited my students (they are brothers) at their house and saw it for myself the tiny house they are living in. These boys are very keen to learn and are bright. If they had been given a chance to study in a private school, they would have excelled. But living below the poverty line they are deprived of a good education and nutrition. The younger brother has a small body which I consider disproportional to the size of his head. The older brother (they are only one year apart) is a fine young boy who is well-mannered, a little more sensible and eager to learn. My heart breaks whenever I see him in his tight supposedly white uniform but has yellowish spots at different parts of the uniform. This time I really wanted to buy him a white uniform that fits him comfortably but refrained from doing that.

At the end of last week, the mother of another of my boy (12 year-old) student came anxiously to me to want to talk to me about her son. I excused myself from the class and listened to her revelation of her son’s poor attendance in school and that he has been running around the community and has picked up smoking and drinking. Her eyes reveal her desperation and helplessness and she was close to tears. I saw the relief in her eyes when I said I would pray for him and we will see what we could do for him.

As I revealed this boy’s condition to my colleague (local), he nonchalantly said, “It’s like that in this community because in non-private schools, the teacher does not teach or they do not turn up, so the students are easily led away by bad company and vile habits.”

Such is the condition of this community and the vulnerability of the kids in the community. But they are God’s children! We have to release them from the schemes of the evil one!

Just these few weeks, I have heard of a quarrel between two parties along the road near to where my centre is and the quarrel led to one party picking up a pole nearby and hitting the other party with it. And the victim laid on the floor unconscious! And there was another incident where someone hit the windscreen of a car and smashed it into pieces. Yet in a different occurrence, two men extorted money from a pedestrian at the same area in broad daylight and no one came to his aid.


My hope and prayer is that the glory of the Lord shines in this community and transforms it! This community needs Him.