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Bright colorful paintings fill the room, transforming it into the cartoon jungle. Postponed from its traditional summertime date,  to coincide with events for the International Week of the Deaf, this week we hosted Vacation Bible School at Instituto Isaías 55, our elementary school for the deaf. Just as back in the June and July, we pulled out the parables of Jesus, asking the kids to look for the tesoros escondidos, the hidden treasures found in His teachings.

A couple of things that you learn very quickly after spending time with deaf kids- abstract ideas  are difficult, and you know the moment that they understand. The children gathered and watched attentively in near silence as the teacher told the day's lesson. Several nodded their heads. Several signed answers in response. (Several paid a lot of attention to the little guy sitting next to him... )

Then we moved to smaller groups. It was my turn. First, I know very little sign language. And let's be honest, my Spanish skills leave much to be desired. How on earth can I teach deaf Mexican kids? Thankfully, I had good examples and an excellent interpreters. The kids gathered around our tubs of bricks and stones and weeds and soil. My lesson was the Parable of the Sower. Maybe you remember. The sower spread the seeds along the road, but nothing grows. He spread the seeds in rocky soil but the roots were shallow and the plants withered. He spread his seed in a field of weeds, but the rogue plants choked the good seed and prevented it from growing. But when the seed found the good soil, the plants thrived and produced much good fruit.

The kids got to hold onto pumpkin seeds and think about a plant growing in the road, their faces showing how ridiculous and impossible that would be. They dropped their seeds in the rocks and signed furiously how the sun would burn them up or the water would wash them away or the birds would eat them up. They hid their seeds under leaves and weeds and recognized that there was not much room for good growth there.  Finally, they poked holes in the good dark rich soil, and covered it up and pretended to water it. I'm sure that in their minds, a big fat pumpkin was growing, ready to harvest.

But how to communicate the hidden treasure of this story? As much as this parable tells about soil, and about the things that distract us from the word of God, it's not really just about that. It's not about us. It's about the sower; it's about Jesus. The seed of the His word is always good. The sower throws those seeds generously, even liberally. Even the smallest piece of good soil can produce fruit for His kingdom, 30, 60, hundredfold. That is our prayer for these kids and the others we are privileged to walk alongside; that is our prayer for ourselves.