Olivia has been attending KIC and EPIC programs since she was in grade 1. She is now in grade 5, and she has a twin sister. When I first met Olivia I thought: 1. This is going to get really confusing and 2. Could she please stop messaging insults to her sister?
I call her story Ordinary Grace because from the outside, nothing extraordinary is going on. She comes to programs and not much else happens. But I am so thankful for this ‘ordinary’ grace of knowing her. Olivia is very different from her sister - her sister likes to be on her own or spend time with her friends or siblings, but Olivia is always eager to join programs. She doesn’t show her face on Zoom very often, so she may seem shy, but she is always a friendly person to be around. She enjoys spending time with volunteers, whether she’s already familiar with them or not.
Her mother works a lot so she’s often left home alone with her older siblings. Her siblings are quite chaotic and so she doesn’t have much quiet and personal time to herself. More recently, we were able to set up a scholarship for math tutoring for Olivia. While she does okay in school, we thought this would benefit her, especially during this pandemic season a lot of students lack one-on-one attention. The assistance her personal tutor gives her can help identify her weaknesses and her strengths as well, and provide tailored guidance. I’m so impressed that even though she says she doesn’t like math, she was willing to sign up. However, tutoring has proven to be a challenge as she often becomes distracted by her siblings to the point where she muted herself and only used the chat function. She has also missed the second session because she was doing chores instead.
Another struggle has been for myself personally. Many of the kids are Zoom-fatigued and attendance has been lower than in the past. But because of the few kids we have, and especially because of Olivia, I still find joy and purpose in our mission at Willowtree. On the outside, it may seem like the outlook is negative in terms of numbers, but viewing the situation with the perspective that Christ gives us will give us reason to praise. God loves each and every one of these children so much that He sacrificed all He had for them. Therefore, we can continue to bring this love of God into the lives of kids like Olivia, despite adversity and doubt. At the end of the day, even to have just a single child choose to live their life for the King - it is worth it all.