In this puppet show, the students sing: “how big is God’s love? IT’S HUGE! So big you can’t be above it, so wide you can’t be beside it!”
Up in the Nicaraguan highlands, there’s a little school in Estellí that’s achieving gigantic results for poor, at-risk kids. At Father Fabretto Children’s Foundation, more than 450 at-risk children show up every day, excited and eager to learn. This is an amazing feat in itself, because most of these kids literally hated their regular classes until they started attending the Fabretto program. Now, they are full of praise for their teachers and for the Lord who made it all possible!
I spoke with one teenage student who was passionate in her praise. Her name was Esther Fajardo, and she had this huge smile on her face when she said, “The teachers here make the difference. They actually listen.”
You see the same fire in the eyes of the youngest kids. When I walked into the library, I discovered dozens of little children reading. Suddenly, they jumped up and ran to the corner of the room where they had constructed a makeshift puppet theatre. As the children donned their hand puppets, they all launched into a popular Latino folk song, singing to Father God:
Alabare, alabare, alabare, alabare
Alabare, alabare a mi Señor
In English, this translates very simply as: “I will praise, I will praise, I will praise my Lord!” Their response was unprompted. Their motive was pure. The children who sang have nothing. As I reflected on this amazing experience, I thought of our own children here in the States who have so much and who sometimes struggle with praise.
Esther Fajardo said it best. The teachers of Fabretto do make the difference. It is their dedication, talent and devotion to God that have given these young students a new lease on life. And that too is worthy of praise!
-Chris M.