"Dia del Mapi"

Dude Singing to His Grandma Mapi

On Thursday, Lety came home from school with an invitation for me to Father’s Day (celebrated in March here). I made the logical comment: “I’m not your father.” She said, “They are inviting single mothers because you are both mother and father,” (mami + papi = mapi). What a nice idea! AND that means I’ll be invited to Mother’s Day, too! Double celebration for double duty!

Anyway, Lety and I went to “Dia del Mapi” today at her school, and it was the most moving school program I’ve attended in all my years of attending school programs. Lety is attending a small K-12 Christian school, and we are newcomers. I literally did not know a soul there except the principal and his wife who handled registration. The program started with praise and worship and a prayer. Then the children did their presentations.

Preparatory went first, and there was a chunky, curly adorable boy in the middle who kept blowing kisses to his daddy, who cheerfully blew them back. So cute. And then a high school girl got up and sang a song to her dad. She was nervous, so she called her little sister over and they kept their arms around one another the entire song. At the end, the girl who sang went to her dad in the audience and held him tight. They were both crying. I was, too. I later found out that the dad had recently suffered a stroke. He got up and shared a testimony about how he needed a medical test afterwards. His younger daughter heard him talking about it with the mother. She made a can and said she would ask people for donations. He started crying. The little girl ran up and grabbed him, weeping. A son joined the love clump. I wasn't the only one sniffling in the crowd by now.

And then a high school boy sang a very sentimental song about fathers, and when he went into the audience to hug his dad, it wasn’t a dad: it was his grandmother! I found out later that she is raising five grandsons by herself. When that big dude leaned over to love on his little grandmom, I really did lose it. Who would have thought that “Dia del Mapi” would be worse than fifteen Little House On the Prairie episodes?! I mean, Lety even cried and hugged me, and she’s fifteen and too cool for school. She wouldn’t even sit with me when we got there, but after all this stuff started happening, she came over for a hug herself!

I think that “Dia del Mapi” should turn into a worldwide movement. It’s clearly anointed by the Holy Spirit. I can hardly wait until next year!