Hello to Partners along this journey,
Every day this week I plan to have a new update! There is just so much to say about what I have been blessed to be able to do recently. I am just back from Detroit, where I helped feed about 300 families as part of a very blessed “Food 4 Families” project with a church there that I will be excited to share with you all in detail soon.
First though, I want to talk about something that happened a little earlier: I volunteered for a week at a local VBS which was run by First Community AME here in Grand Rapids (known as FAME for short).
The Bible story we learned about was Joseph: From Prison to Palace (http://egypt.group.com/). We had a virtual 'trip to Egypt' which allowed me to have fun by wearing my authentic African dresses every night. YAY~!
It really was a joy to work with the kids and also very good preparation for overseas missions work. And what is the best preparation to do missions work, you may ask. Well, the answer is simple: teaching! Sharing the gospel with others really involves all of the teaching skills at the basic level.
I originally thought I was only going to be helping the children at VBS do a craft where they wrote their name in hieroglyphics. Oh no, the church leadership challenged me instead and asked me to be a 'family leader' of about 10 kids for the entire time. I was happy that they had confidence that I could do a good job of the role, however at the same time I found myself thinking... it has been a while since I taught in a classroom, can I still do a good job of it all?
For the week, we learned about the story of Joseph. The very first day, after everyone wrote their name on a nametag and introduced themselves, I held up the Bible to show that this story of Joseph comes from the book of Genesis.
Immediately, one young boy about 6 or 7 said in a loud voice, “I don't like the Bible!”
My mouth just fell open. I never imagined that someone might say or think such a thing. Someone in in high school said to my face “The only people who believe in Christianity are unintelligent and ignorant,” and I thought at the time that was just the absolute worst thing but I had never imagined someone might dismiss the Bible simply because they thought they did not like it, or even hated it?
The boy went on. “My mom and dad don't read that book,” he said proudly. “It's too long. I don't see how anybody could read it all anyways!” He crossed his arms, as if he dared me to say something different.
While I was still thinking of something to say, the beautiful young teenage girl who was assisting my group was very offended. “Look- If you aren't going to cooperate- if you don't want to be here, then you can just go home!”
The boy scratched the back of his neck and looked down at the ground, perhaps a bit embarrassed. O felt like everyone in the group was staring at me, expecting me to say something.
First I turned to my assistant, touching her lightly on the arm. “He's just saying that because he is young and doesn't know anything about the Bible. That's why he's here. We have to help him.” I also couldn't help thinking sadly that he must have heard his mother or father say something similar about the Bible to say something bad about it with so much confidence.
There was a lot of things I could have said. It is just so ironic that the boy himself did not realize his own name (Isaiah, although it was spelled different than the standard way) came out of the Bible! I could have mentioned that. Like my mother suggested afterward, I could have said with a grin “Now come on. What did the Bible ever do to you to make you not like it?” Perhaps I could have said “Don't you realize that this is Vacation BIBLE School. What we do here is learn about the Bible?”
I decided to not make a big deal out of what he said. I knew from past experience that if I said too much to correct him in front of the other kids, they might tease him and treat him like an outsider. After all, nearly all of the other kids were both older and also attended church regularly. They understood that you should respect the Bible, although they themselves might not understand all of the reasons why. I wanted to preserve the family feeling of the group.
I turned to Isaiah. “Well, this week we'll be learning about Joseph. That is a really good story that comes out of the Bible. And there are many other very good stories in the Bible too that can teach us about all sorts of things. I like the Bible! I think you will, too, if you keep learning more about it.”
Then I simply continued with the lesson. I think my teenage helper got upset with the little boy or with me because of what happened, though. After that day, she didn't come back to help me. That's OK. I ended up getting another young man in the church to help our family group out.
As for little Isaiah... he is not from around here. Seems like his grandmother drove him and his cousins to church for this VBS. I am so thankful for her witness, because perhaps his parents are not being the witness that they should be to him, if they are Christian themselves.
Isaiah enjoyed the VBS. He walked around with the Egyptian collar, Egyptian hieroglyphic nametag, and headband he made very proudly. At the end of our first day together, I was surprised when he actually pulled out a Bible and looked at it as though it might be interesting. At the end of the third day, he went even farther. He opened it and turned the pages with a thoughtful look on his face. I'm sure he was wondering why everyone else kept telling him that it is an important book.
Unfortunately, he only came the first three days. I was planning to buy him a Children's Bible and give it to him on the last day, but since he never came back afterwards I never got a chance to do that. I was disappointed that I couldn't share more with him about God, about life, about wisdom, about hey everything! However, I have to remind myself that missions work is often like that. We simply plant the seeds, and we must move on before seeing the results. We only have to trust God that he will grant the increase.
At work today, a song came on the radio which said 'Life goes on, even though the thrill of living is long gone.' Hah. If you find yourself losing a sense of the excitement and mystery of life, then volunteer and do some quiet work to help others in the Lord's name. You will find that you too are blessed more than you could have ever imagined.
Galatians 6:9 (New International Version)
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
Next blog: What this Missionary Eats (you WILL be surprised)
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