Chicken Noodle Club

Background info:  Chicken Noodle Club is a program that serves children in the name of Jesus. Today we got to go to an inner city school in St. John, NB and make pancakes to serve to kids k- 8th grade who don't have a lunch to eat. Then we got to run an after school program for some of the younger kids (K-2nd grade)

September 13, 2012

Today we got to go help out at the Chicken Noodle Club with praxis. Again, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was trying to be open to what God was going to do. I didn’t have a specific job to do, so as lunch was served, I got to just hang out with the kids as they ate. I kind of jumped around to different groups of little kids. At one point, I was talking to a girl in grade 4, she suddenly stopped the conversation and looked at me, pointing to the end of the table and shouting “Kid crying!!” I got up and went to the end of the table where a little boy sat trembling and sobbing. I asked him what was wrong, and all he could respond with was “I can’t do this!” He looked at the nibbled at sandwich in front of him as he desperately tried to wrap it in plastic wrap and a napkin. “I don’t like it. I just can’t eat it!” I told him it was ok if he just threw it away and got a pancake instead. But he said, “No! I can’t throw it away! My mom will get mad at me!” I immediately felt so broken for this little guy, clearly carrying so much fear. “She gets mad when I throw food away because it’s a waste of money” I pictured what his life at home must be, poor in money and spirit. Finally I helped him wrap up his little sandwich and put it back in his lunchbox and got him a pancake. He started going off about differences in sandwiches, and I listened to him and laughed at his cute little stories. He was absolutely hilarious. But in the most lighthearted way, with eyelashes still damp with tears, he talked about how his dad would get mad at him too. My heart ached and I just wanted to cry. Then it was time for the kids to leave lunch, and we said goodbye.
During the afterschool program, I was coloring with a little girl when we were told to clean everything up. I told her she could just take her coloring page home and finish it later. “I don’t have any colors at home.” she said. She didn’t even have simple crayons. It hit me how much I took for granted as a child. Then I noticed a little guy sitting alone, who looked shy and sad. I went and sat next to him and asked him what his name was. He looked at me with a big smile and told me it was Austin. I asked him what he learned today, and he said, “that Jesus made me special!” I asked him if he believed it, and he responded that he did with a big smile. But out of nowhere he said, “you should see how often I get sick.” Again, that made my heart hurt. That’s not a normal random thing that kids say. As much as it hurt my heart to see some of the things these kids go through, it brought so much hope to see them get excited knowing that God made them special, and He is always with them.