For a while now, I have felt like my pastor has been holding back on us. He is one of the main reasons I continued going to the church I go to now after I visited roughly five or six years ago, but lately it’s felt as though soemthing was missing. Now, that may be no dig on him. That could be, and probably is, just as much my own heart issue. Maybe even more so a heart issue on my part than anything to do with him. Still, it’s felt like he might be restraining himself for one reason or another.
Today he showed us a glimpse of what captured my attention.
He challenged us.
He didn’t necessarily call us out so much as he spoke about some challenging things. Now, he has done this a few times in the past, and really, most things he speaks on are challenging. He is a Bible-believing pastor, and anytime you preach from the Bible there is a natural friction between the sinners we are, and the holiness we are called to. This time, however, I just felt more conviction in his voice. He wasn’t straining, or yelling and screaming, or getting flustered in any way. I just…felt the conviction. I don’t know how to explain it any better than that.
But I can try to explain what he talked about that touched me so much.
He spoke against our selfishness. He spoke against our lack of trust in God that causes us to seek satisfaction in our worship to Him, instead of seeing worship as a sacrifice that honors the creator of the entire universe. We so often speak of our “style” of worship, in relation to music, instead of seeing our lives as a sacrificial worship to the God who loved us so much that he sacrificed everything to have us. To this, he told stories of people who saw the selfishness of their worldly possesions and sold their big houses and bought smaller houses and more modest vehicles so that they would have more money to give to those who have nothing. He told us about the difference between giving sacrificially from the heart, and giving selfishly so that you receive something in return. He also told us about what a true heart of worship can lead us to do.
He said there was this guy a while back who had received help from a few people in his life. That initially made him want to become rich so he could help others as well. Then he realized none of the people who helped him were rich. They were normal, like him, and like us. So he decided to put back money every month and find one person to help each month using that money. Providentially, God placed him in just the right time to be around some amazing technology. He started a website called "Modest Needs" to find the people he would help, others saw it, someone blogged about it, and now they help thousands of people each year using millions of dollars in donations that come from all over. There was even a staticistic that said something like 70% of all gift recipients come back and give when they can.
It’s infectious, this sacrificial worhsip life. When we Chrisitians listen to what God told us to do, it touches people in a way that doesn’t make sense to the rest of the world. It is a wisdom that surpasses all understanding. When we get away from the selfish ways we’ve been raised with, the idea of looking out for numero uno, and start trusting God, we can do big things.
We have nothing to fear. He will not leave us, nor forsake us. We have an eternal hope in Him. We can sacrifice everything in this life, because of what he has promised us in the next. The passage for today spoke to that. John 14:1-7
And I would like my blog to become something that speaks to it as well. I have struggled some with what this blog would be. I try to write something funny every now and then. I try to use it for updates on the mission trips I take. And I may continue that. But from now on, I believe the main focus will be to inform you all about different giving oppprtunities. Different ways you can live your lives sacrificially. As often as I can find the time to do the research, I will be posting about different organizations you can connect with and give. I hope it will be something you find interesting, and important. I will start with the ones I have given through for a while. Then I will start researchign others. There is no need to give to all of them. That would be impossible. But I would urge you to find out what you can do, and do a little more.
Thanks, and until next time…I’ve got nothing to go there. It just seemed like what I should say. So, bye.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
FBCASHMTATL2010: The Last Days
First, I would like to thank all of you for reading these posts, and giving me so many kind compliments. I enjoy writing just for the sake of writing, but positive feedback is a bit of a guilty pleasure that comes along with it all.
Second, I would like to thank any parents or guardians of the 25, or so, youth who went on this trip for raising such wonderful children. I was very impressed with heir hearts, and their work ethic. They taught me a lot, and I feel like I got way more from them than they did from me.
And now, a recap of the last few days, and a summation of the entire trip. We’ll see where this goes.
I apologize for not writing about that last day. I instead chose to play basketball with Carlos, Jerimiah, Taylor, Connor, Luke, and Ryan. I may have been better off writing. I’m not very good at basketball to begin with, and I’m pretty out of shape. I was spent in the first five minutes, and we played much longer than that.
In doing that, though, I missed out on telling you some interesting things. One of them being a…new experience with our old friend Rand.
He showed up ready to take us to Asian Square, as I’m told it’s called. It’s a shopping area near Virginia’s Community Center that is full of, well, Asian stores. We went in to a shop with all sorts of Buddhist and Hindu items of worship, and general house decoration. We went in to a grocery store that blew the minds, and most of the five senses, of the kids. We saw an herbal pharmacy, and even Rand’s favorite taqueria in a small shopping strip across the street.
But before all of that, he took us to a place most of us have never been. When he walked in to the church, he gathered us all together in a room, made us all sit down, and told us to close our eyes. He then led us through some Christian meditation by getting us to completely relax our bodies (and telling us we were doing a great job, although he had no idea whether or not we actually were), and imagine a scene in which Jesus rides up to a beach in a sail boat, and sits down next to us on a random bench. For some, this was a new and exciting experience. A few kids truly got in to it, and even teared up a bit at the idea of Jesus physically comforting them. For the rest, however, this idea was horrible. Maybe at another time it would have hit them like it did the others, but not this time. This time they were all exhausted from a few days of travel, physical labor, and running around for a few hours with some wiiild kiddos. Asking them to sit down, close their eyes, and get completely relaxed was like handing them a sleeping pill and a bottle of NyQuil to wash it down.
After everyone woke up, we went about the above international experiences, then showed up a little late to our sites and had another fun day with some fun kids.
For our group, Team 1 (consisting of the kids listed in this post), the last day was the best, and the hardest. From listening to the other groups, it was the same for them.
Short trips like these are tough. It takes you a few days to really build a rapport with the kids, then you have to leave them. They beg you to stay, or take them with you, and don’t always understand why you have to leave. They ask when you’ll be back, and that is a tough question to answer when you know you probably won’t.
When our group showed up, the kids were already off the bus and walking home. They thought we weren’t coming this day. Then one kid saw us, yelled, and the whole herd of children turned around at once and charged us. This was our tough group from the past couple of days. But this day they decided to be positively the sweetest kids we’d met all week. They listened to us, played with us, and wanted us to stay. It was either like they knew we were leaving, and this was a diabolical plan by the little heathens to really hit us where it hurt and make us feel bad for leaving, just because they knew they could. Or we had actually broken down their jaded, callous little hearts. I think it was the latter.
And that’s why this stuff is so hard. You see kids who are entirely too young to have such calloused hearts make giant relational leaps in just a few short days. Then you have to go away. You have to look at them and say “bye,” when all you want to do is stay around and see them continue to grow. Your heart breaks for what you now know they have to go back to. Your heart breaks because you know that there is a good chance the callous will grow right back over their tiny, sweet little hearts, and without the saving work of Christ coming to them through Christians willing to take it, those calluses will grow larger and stronger and become contagious like the ones that got to them in the first place.
This is why we must pray. This is why we must go, and be willing to deal personally with this emotion, in the hopes that if enough of us go, something will stick. Some calluses won’t be able to grow back. We’ll have actual kids we can picture when we pray, and God will move in their lives and continue to break down those calluses when we leave. There is hope for them.
However hard all of that may be, there is a personal silver lining in there for you parents of FBCA youth. Your youth leaders recognize the blessing of their job. They recognize that they don’t have to leave your kids. They find joy in knowing they get to “do life” with your kids, as Sarah puts it. And they will. Kurt, Carlos, Sarah, Carol and everyone else who works with the Youth Group love your kids. That’s why they spent this week with them, building relationships and showing them what Christ wants them to do with this love they have. Serving together, and traveling together, builds community like nothing else. Your kids are in a very strong community. You can be sure of that.
You can also be sure that they are a blast in a van. Our travels on the way back proved to be just as fun as on the way there. It was great to see them come together. This trip definitely transformed them. Seeing kids that don’t normally “hang out” become close friends is an exciting thing to witness. Please encourage them to continue to nurture those new relationships. Finally, please continue to do what you’re doing. Whatever it is, it’s working.
Second, I would like to thank any parents or guardians of the 25, or so, youth who went on this trip for raising such wonderful children. I was very impressed with heir hearts, and their work ethic. They taught me a lot, and I feel like I got way more from them than they did from me.
And now, a recap of the last few days, and a summation of the entire trip. We’ll see where this goes.
I apologize for not writing about that last day. I instead chose to play basketball with Carlos, Jerimiah, Taylor, Connor, Luke, and Ryan. I may have been better off writing. I’m not very good at basketball to begin with, and I’m pretty out of shape. I was spent in the first five minutes, and we played much longer than that.
In doing that, though, I missed out on telling you some interesting things. One of them being a…new experience with our old friend Rand.
He showed up ready to take us to Asian Square, as I’m told it’s called. It’s a shopping area near Virginia’s Community Center that is full of, well, Asian stores. We went in to a shop with all sorts of Buddhist and Hindu items of worship, and general house decoration. We went in to a grocery store that blew the minds, and most of the five senses, of the kids. We saw an herbal pharmacy, and even Rand’s favorite taqueria in a small shopping strip across the street.
But before all of that, he took us to a place most of us have never been. When he walked in to the church, he gathered us all together in a room, made us all sit down, and told us to close our eyes. He then led us through some Christian meditation by getting us to completely relax our bodies (and telling us we were doing a great job, although he had no idea whether or not we actually were), and imagine a scene in which Jesus rides up to a beach in a sail boat, and sits down next to us on a random bench. For some, this was a new and exciting experience. A few kids truly got in to it, and even teared up a bit at the idea of Jesus physically comforting them. For the rest, however, this idea was horrible. Maybe at another time it would have hit them like it did the others, but not this time. This time they were all exhausted from a few days of travel, physical labor, and running around for a few hours with some wiiild kiddos. Asking them to sit down, close their eyes, and get completely relaxed was like handing them a sleeping pill and a bottle of NyQuil to wash it down.
After everyone woke up, we went about the above international experiences, then showed up a little late to our sites and had another fun day with some fun kids.
For our group, Team 1 (consisting of the kids listed in this post), the last day was the best, and the hardest. From listening to the other groups, it was the same for them.
Short trips like these are tough. It takes you a few days to really build a rapport with the kids, then you have to leave them. They beg you to stay, or take them with you, and don’t always understand why you have to leave. They ask when you’ll be back, and that is a tough question to answer when you know you probably won’t.
When our group showed up, the kids were already off the bus and walking home. They thought we weren’t coming this day. Then one kid saw us, yelled, and the whole herd of children turned around at once and charged us. This was our tough group from the past couple of days. But this day they decided to be positively the sweetest kids we’d met all week. They listened to us, played with us, and wanted us to stay. It was either like they knew we were leaving, and this was a diabolical plan by the little heathens to really hit us where it hurt and make us feel bad for leaving, just because they knew they could. Or we had actually broken down their jaded, callous little hearts. I think it was the latter.
And that’s why this stuff is so hard. You see kids who are entirely too young to have such calloused hearts make giant relational leaps in just a few short days. Then you have to go away. You have to look at them and say “bye,” when all you want to do is stay around and see them continue to grow. Your heart breaks for what you now know they have to go back to. Your heart breaks because you know that there is a good chance the callous will grow right back over their tiny, sweet little hearts, and without the saving work of Christ coming to them through Christians willing to take it, those calluses will grow larger and stronger and become contagious like the ones that got to them in the first place.
This is why we must pray. This is why we must go, and be willing to deal personally with this emotion, in the hopes that if enough of us go, something will stick. Some calluses won’t be able to grow back. We’ll have actual kids we can picture when we pray, and God will move in their lives and continue to break down those calluses when we leave. There is hope for them.
However hard all of that may be, there is a personal silver lining in there for you parents of FBCA youth. Your youth leaders recognize the blessing of their job. They recognize that they don’t have to leave your kids. They find joy in knowing they get to “do life” with your kids, as Sarah puts it. And they will. Kurt, Carlos, Sarah, Carol and everyone else who works with the Youth Group love your kids. That’s why they spent this week with them, building relationships and showing them what Christ wants them to do with this love they have. Serving together, and traveling together, builds community like nothing else. Your kids are in a very strong community. You can be sure of that.
You can also be sure that they are a blast in a van. Our travels on the way back proved to be just as fun as on the way there. It was great to see them come together. This trip definitely transformed them. Seeing kids that don’t normally “hang out” become close friends is an exciting thing to witness. Please encourage them to continue to nurture those new relationships. Finally, please continue to do what you’re doing. Whatever it is, it’s working.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
FBCASHMTATL2010: In which much work is begun, and Sarah Pardue joins us on the blog!
We finally began our real work today. Not that driving seven hours, dealing with a hotel room mix-up, driving another seven hours, and trying to process Rand at the end of all that, isn’t hard work. It’s just not the work we came here to do.
The work we came here to do is helping people like Virginia at the Cross Cultural Community Education and Activity Center in the Pearl Lane area of Chamblee-Doraville. The building was formerly military housing from World War II, and is in an area that’s now home to a large Hispanic population. When Virginia and the mission moved there in 1992 it was largely Cambodian and Vietnamese. Many of their families had moved in around the time of the Vietnamese war to escape what was going on back home. Virginia works with all of them. There is not one people group she is trying to reach. She said they “are here to help this community, whoever that is.”
We spent the first part of our day prepping the inside of the building for some paint work. We cleaned, taped and primed many of the walls, then started the painting that we’ll be doing over the next two days. It was great to see the kids so eager to work. If someone had nothing to do, we didn’t find them sitting around, relaxing and enjoying their day off. They found us and begged for something to do. They wanted to help.
And they did a great job of it. We knocked out quite a bit of work in just a few hours, then headed back to the church for lunch. Hayden and Connor had a difficult time with lunch, because they each ate 20+ pancakes at breakfast (not to mention sausage, bacon, and mounds and mounds of butter). Those of us who were able to enjoy our lunch got to the dessert, and had a pretty intense debate as to whether or not the little chocolate cupcakes we had were “Ding Dongs, or Ho Hos.” Finally, someone got up to look at the off-brand box to see if we could find our answer there. It said they were “little chocolate cupcakes.”
We rested for a little while longer, then got everything ready for the afternoon with the kiddos. We were all ready to employ Rand’s “Hola. Fiesta. Ninos. Do you like cookies?” method. This, however, seemed to fall to the wayside once we arrived at our sites.
Each team (There are three of us, and this is only my perspective. For another team story, see the guest post below, by Sarah!) has two sites to visit. I’m in Team 1 with Kurt, Halie, Jon, Luke, Emily, Ryan, Lydia, Rachel and MacKenzie. We showed up to the CCCEAC at Chamblee-Doraville to an almost empty neighborhood. Then a school bus pulled up. Out poured a ton of kids ready to be away from school. Most of the older ones wanted nothing to do with us. But quite a few of the little ones stayed around, and went absolutely wild. They had somewhere near zero attention span. Then it was time to go to the next site.
At this one, the kids were a little calmer, and they responded a little better to what we had for them. We even helped them with their homework, and led a 45-minute game of duck-duck-goose while we waited for Kurt and Rand to return from the other sites and let us back in to our van so we could get the cookies. The kids were ready to start a mutiny for those cookies.
Once we got all of the cookies passed out, and peeled the kids off of our backs, we headed back to the church to grab our wallets so we could go grab some grub. We found plenty of options at one of the…no, at the nicest mall I have ever been in. We were even able to make it to and from the mall without getting lost.
We got back to find the local basketball league still in the gym. They were supposed to be done well over an hour ago, but they are still going. But since our group is so flexible this week, it’s no big deal! We chilled, I wrote this, and now we are about to have our debrief. Good night, and we’ll talk tomorrow.
And now, Sarah!
Working with this group is seriously humbling. I love these kids. And not because I’m supposed to since I’m one of their youth ministers … but because they’re impossible NOT to love. I know Kurt, Carlos, and Carol all feel the same way. There’s something to be said about a group of teenagers who choose to spend their Spring Break(s) sleeping on the floor of a family life center, showering in shifts, and giving out free (and incredibly authentic) hugs to children who have very VERY little. Have I mentioned how much I love them? I know you do too. And if you’re a parent reading this, like Eddie said before, you have every reason to be proud.
I represent TEAM 2 (2 Legit). This team consists of: myself, Taylor W., Connor W., Sara, Addie, Kandi, Megan, Anna T., Hayden, Jerimiah and Jennifer Smith (and baby Smith … who has been named after everyone on this trip so far). In an effort not to repeat everything Eddie has already said, I just wanted to make mention of a few highlights that stick out in my mind from Team 2’s escapades.
We were warmly welcomed at our first stop, Highland Terrace. I mean, warmly welcomed. The first two little girls that we saw ran up to Anna and Kandi and wrapped their arms around their necks (no “Fiesta! El Nino! Muy es bueno hola!” necessary). We found this same sort of welcome as kids poured into our field. At one point, the number was as large as 35. They came armed with jump ropes and huge smiles. They melted our hearts almost automatically. One little boy, Angel, is destined to be a pastor. Call me crazy, but no typical 7-year-old knows the story of Jesus’ temptation like the back of his hand. Am I right?
As today has gone on, I have heard stories from the students in team 2 about how they instantly fell in love with the kiddos they ministered to today. I was simultaneously falling in love with the students who were leading team 2. Here’s why. They really know how to show unconditional love. For instance, there was one particularly angry little boy that kept trying to express his anger through little outbursts of, well, head-butting Taylor and picking up large boulders while glaring at other children. Connor, Hayden, and Taylor just continued to smile, hug, and reassure the little fella that he was safe enough to let his little 6-year-old guard down. At one point, another little boy flipped over the handle-bars of his bike after the chain came loose and began to cry. Without flinching, Hayden Haschke ran to his aid, calmed him down, made sure he was okay, and even fixed the bike. Many label this “seeing a need and meeting it.” I call it love. And it doesn’t end with just the little ones. Jennifer made a connection this afternoon with the mother of one of our little Bengali boys. The woman found out Jennifer liked cheese pizza and wasted no time preparing one for her. I’m not kidding. She made a pizza. Because Jennifer mentioned she liked it. A connection was made. I mean, we’re talking about true connection where race, religious affiliation, or social status didn’t matter in that very moment. However, Love did. And Jennifer knows the True Lover (please pray that she is given another opportunity to meet with this sweet woman).
Every last teenager on our team (the mission team as a whole) conducts themselves like mature adults. They’re pouring every ounce of themselves into the lives of sweet little ones and have come home exhausted tonight … but encouraged. They are indeed, bringing the church “to the people!” Thanks for praying for us. We are certainly feeling those prayers. :)
The work we came here to do is helping people like Virginia at the Cross Cultural Community Education and Activity Center in the Pearl Lane area of Chamblee-Doraville. The building was formerly military housing from World War II, and is in an area that’s now home to a large Hispanic population. When Virginia and the mission moved there in 1992 it was largely Cambodian and Vietnamese. Many of their families had moved in around the time of the Vietnamese war to escape what was going on back home. Virginia works with all of them. There is not one people group she is trying to reach. She said they “are here to help this community, whoever that is.”
We spent the first part of our day prepping the inside of the building for some paint work. We cleaned, taped and primed many of the walls, then started the painting that we’ll be doing over the next two days. It was great to see the kids so eager to work. If someone had nothing to do, we didn’t find them sitting around, relaxing and enjoying their day off. They found us and begged for something to do. They wanted to help.
And they did a great job of it. We knocked out quite a bit of work in just a few hours, then headed back to the church for lunch. Hayden and Connor had a difficult time with lunch, because they each ate 20+ pancakes at breakfast (not to mention sausage, bacon, and mounds and mounds of butter). Those of us who were able to enjoy our lunch got to the dessert, and had a pretty intense debate as to whether or not the little chocolate cupcakes we had were “Ding Dongs, or Ho Hos.” Finally, someone got up to look at the off-brand box to see if we could find our answer there. It said they were “little chocolate cupcakes.”
We rested for a little while longer, then got everything ready for the afternoon with the kiddos. We were all ready to employ Rand’s “Hola. Fiesta. Ninos. Do you like cookies?” method. This, however, seemed to fall to the wayside once we arrived at our sites.
Each team (There are three of us, and this is only my perspective. For another team story, see the guest post below, by Sarah!) has two sites to visit. I’m in Team 1 with Kurt, Halie, Jon, Luke, Emily, Ryan, Lydia, Rachel and MacKenzie. We showed up to the CCCEAC at Chamblee-Doraville to an almost empty neighborhood. Then a school bus pulled up. Out poured a ton of kids ready to be away from school. Most of the older ones wanted nothing to do with us. But quite a few of the little ones stayed around, and went absolutely wild. They had somewhere near zero attention span. Then it was time to go to the next site.
At this one, the kids were a little calmer, and they responded a little better to what we had for them. We even helped them with their homework, and led a 45-minute game of duck-duck-goose while we waited for Kurt and Rand to return from the other sites and let us back in to our van so we could get the cookies. The kids were ready to start a mutiny for those cookies.
Once we got all of the cookies passed out, and peeled the kids off of our backs, we headed back to the church to grab our wallets so we could go grab some grub. We found plenty of options at one of the…no, at the nicest mall I have ever been in. We were even able to make it to and from the mall without getting lost.
We got back to find the local basketball league still in the gym. They were supposed to be done well over an hour ago, but they are still going. But since our group is so flexible this week, it’s no big deal! We chilled, I wrote this, and now we are about to have our debrief. Good night, and we’ll talk tomorrow.
And now, Sarah!
Working with this group is seriously humbling. I love these kids. And not because I’m supposed to since I’m one of their youth ministers … but because they’re impossible NOT to love. I know Kurt, Carlos, and Carol all feel the same way. There’s something to be said about a group of teenagers who choose to spend their Spring Break(s) sleeping on the floor of a family life center, showering in shifts, and giving out free (and incredibly authentic) hugs to children who have very VERY little. Have I mentioned how much I love them? I know you do too. And if you’re a parent reading this, like Eddie said before, you have every reason to be proud.
I represent TEAM 2 (2 Legit). This team consists of: myself, Taylor W., Connor W., Sara, Addie, Kandi, Megan, Anna T., Hayden, Jerimiah and Jennifer Smith (and baby Smith … who has been named after everyone on this trip so far). In an effort not to repeat everything Eddie has already said, I just wanted to make mention of a few highlights that stick out in my mind from Team 2’s escapades.
We were warmly welcomed at our first stop, Highland Terrace. I mean, warmly welcomed. The first two little girls that we saw ran up to Anna and Kandi and wrapped their arms around their necks (no “Fiesta! El Nino! Muy es bueno hola!” necessary). We found this same sort of welcome as kids poured into our field. At one point, the number was as large as 35. They came armed with jump ropes and huge smiles. They melted our hearts almost automatically. One little boy, Angel, is destined to be a pastor. Call me crazy, but no typical 7-year-old knows the story of Jesus’ temptation like the back of his hand. Am I right?
As today has gone on, I have heard stories from the students in team 2 about how they instantly fell in love with the kiddos they ministered to today. I was simultaneously falling in love with the students who were leading team 2. Here’s why. They really know how to show unconditional love. For instance, there was one particularly angry little boy that kept trying to express his anger through little outbursts of, well, head-butting Taylor and picking up large boulders while glaring at other children. Connor, Hayden, and Taylor just continued to smile, hug, and reassure the little fella that he was safe enough to let his little 6-year-old guard down. At one point, another little boy flipped over the handle-bars of his bike after the chain came loose and began to cry. Without flinching, Hayden Haschke ran to his aid, calmed him down, made sure he was okay, and even fixed the bike. Many label this “seeing a need and meeting it.” I call it love. And it doesn’t end with just the little ones. Jennifer made a connection this afternoon with the mother of one of our little Bengali boys. The woman found out Jennifer liked cheese pizza and wasted no time preparing one for her. I’m not kidding. She made a pizza. Because Jennifer mentioned she liked it. A connection was made. I mean, we’re talking about true connection where race, religious affiliation, or social status didn’t matter in that very moment. However, Love did. And Jennifer knows the True Lover (please pray that she is given another opportunity to meet with this sweet woman).
Every last teenager on our team (the mission team as a whole) conducts themselves like mature adults. They’re pouring every ounce of themselves into the lives of sweet little ones and have come home exhausted tonight … but encouraged. They are indeed, bringing the church “to the people!” Thanks for praying for us. We are certainly feeling those prayers. :)
Monday, March 15, 2010
FBCASHMTATL2010-2: "The white devils are here!"
I don’t think we were ready for him. He came at us from the hallway of North Peachtree Baptist Church, our first Atlantan interaction. I think he introduced himself as Tim, but I just called him Rand McNally. He wore this.
Rand really knew his stuff, but we didn’t really know what he was talking about. I believe he tried to convey the similarity between us going to Cambodia and having no idea what was going, and the people we’ll be working with coming here and having no idea what’s going on. But he was so intense, and so outrageous that it just drew blank stares from the students…and the adults.
He paced back and forth, but not sideways. He paced at us. He called us the Special Forces of ministry to this area. He screamed a lot and I think he said they may say things like “The white devils are here!” Probably just an exaggeration though. Hopefully. He did, however, very astutely warn us that they could see a bunch of white people walking up to the door as the INS coming to get them. We should be kind and calm. And absolutely no jokes about being the INS.
All joking aside, he is passionate about the work here. At one point the had us all doing a “we got spirit, yes we do, we got spirit how bout you” chant/reply thing with the phrases “Take the Church!” “To the people!” That’s what we are doing here. We are showing these people, who are in a place that is strange, new and a little bit scary, how much God loves them. That is the Church, God’s love. It is the central point of the Church, and we want them to understand that. With love being active, we are obeying God’s call to love by taking His church to them.
We’ll be spending time sharing God’s love with the kids in an area known as the International Village. We’ll put on Backyard Bible Clubs, which are basically games, songs, snacks and a Bible story. These are great ways to show a family that someone besides them cares about their kids.
We’ll also spend some time in the mornings at the Cross Cultural Ministries Education and Activities Center doing a little remodeling for some nice lady named Virginia that I think Rand knows.
After we worked all of this out, and told Rand goodbye, we headed to The Varsity. It’s this giant fast-food place in downtown Atlanta. It seats something like 800 people. But don’t worry, the burgers are about the size of coaster, so there’s not much room for grease. Although, there was still quite a bit of grease.
Then we tried to find Wal-Mart. That took a while. We had a lovely, late-night drive through some of the finer areas of Atlanta proper, and eventually arrived at your friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart, a little carsick from all the u-turns.
Everyone is trying to wind down now. Though I’m not sure if basketball and other games will work for that. All of our beds are set up, which we will have to move in the morning for the church members to use the rooms we are sleeping in (but that’s okay because “flexibility” is what we’re about on this trip!). We’re about to have another meeting, then I am sure we will go to bed. There are a few quirks about the building that we will need to go over, and we need to make sure everyone is in the right frame of mind for some ministry. I have no worries about these kids, though. This is an amazing group. I’ve been on trips like this before, in high school and in college, and this is one of the best groups I’ve ever seen.
Keep praying that God will do something big in all of our lives, and in the lives of the people here. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Rand really knew his stuff, but we didn’t really know what he was talking about. I believe he tried to convey the similarity between us going to Cambodia and having no idea what was going, and the people we’ll be working with coming here and having no idea what’s going on. But he was so intense, and so outrageous that it just drew blank stares from the students…and the adults.
He paced back and forth, but not sideways. He paced at us. He called us the Special Forces of ministry to this area. He screamed a lot and I think he said they may say things like “The white devils are here!” Probably just an exaggeration though. Hopefully. He did, however, very astutely warn us that they could see a bunch of white people walking up to the door as the INS coming to get them. We should be kind and calm. And absolutely no jokes about being the INS.
All joking aside, he is passionate about the work here. At one point the had us all doing a “we got spirit, yes we do, we got spirit how bout you” chant/reply thing with the phrases “Take the Church!” “To the people!” That’s what we are doing here. We are showing these people, who are in a place that is strange, new and a little bit scary, how much God loves them. That is the Church, God’s love. It is the central point of the Church, and we want them to understand that. With love being active, we are obeying God’s call to love by taking His church to them.
We’ll be spending time sharing God’s love with the kids in an area known as the International Village. We’ll put on Backyard Bible Clubs, which are basically games, songs, snacks and a Bible story. These are great ways to show a family that someone besides them cares about their kids.
We’ll also spend some time in the mornings at the Cross Cultural Ministries Education and Activities Center doing a little remodeling for some nice lady named Virginia that I think Rand knows.
After we worked all of this out, and told Rand goodbye, we headed to The Varsity. It’s this giant fast-food place in downtown Atlanta. It seats something like 800 people. But don’t worry, the burgers are about the size of coaster, so there’s not much room for grease. Although, there was still quite a bit of grease.
Then we tried to find Wal-Mart. That took a while. We had a lovely, late-night drive through some of the finer areas of Atlanta proper, and eventually arrived at your friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart, a little carsick from all the u-turns.
Everyone is trying to wind down now. Though I’m not sure if basketball and other games will work for that. All of our beds are set up, which we will have to move in the morning for the church members to use the rooms we are sleeping in (but that’s okay because “flexibility” is what we’re about on this trip!). We’re about to have another meeting, then I am sure we will go to bed. There are a few quirks about the building that we will need to go over, and we need to make sure everyone is in the right frame of mind for some ministry. I have no worries about these kids, though. This is an amazing group. I’ve been on trips like this before, in high school and in college, and this is one of the best groups I’ve ever seen.
Keep praying that God will do something big in all of our lives, and in the lives of the people here. I’ll let you know how it goes.
FBCA Senior High Mission Trip Atlanta 2010
[:Posts over the next few days will be about the First Baptist Church of Arlington 2010 Senior High Mission Trip to Atlanta. It will include many full names, and possibly odd explanations, so that any parents or concerned friends and family members can know who and what we are talking about.:]
The internet is acting a bit wonky here in the…well, it rhymes with Sandlewood Sweeps. We’ll leave it at that. In light of that, I’m writing this last night. Not sure what verb tense that would be.
We began our day in the lovely parking lot of the Lighthouse at FBCA. After a prayer by Kurt Krodle, the Youth Minister, we shoved twenty some-odd kids and five of us adults in to three vans, and headed east.
But these aren’t just any vans. These are vans where relationships are built. Cheesy, right? I know. But it’s true. Road trips bring people together. Close quarters create an environment where your choices are enjoy each other and enjoy the trip, or hate each other and hate the trip. Luckily our van, VAN 2!, is choosing the former.
Sarah Pardue, FBCA Associate Youth Minister, took the wheel today with Taylor as her “co-pilot”(quite the important role). Addie, Anna B, Halie, Meagan, Joe, Connor and myself rounded out the rest of the van. I knew this would be good before we pulled out. Great group.
There was your typical song blasting to kick off the trip, but that led in to an interesting trend the rest of the ride. We had a sort of undulating pattern between blaring crazy songs, and having deep, quiet moments. One minute we would be jamming to Journey, the next everyone would have out there Backyard Bible Club books, getting ready for the kids. Then we’d have some more music, and before you know it we’re having serious relationship talks with some very mature young’ns. Then, almost out of nowhere, five ladies would start screaming Wicked songs…beautifully, of course.
Somewhere in the we played a “Top 3” game in which we all listed our top three in areas like, “animals, vacation spots and role models.” Common animals were monkeys and panda bears. Common places were Brazil, Africa, Australia/New Zealand and Italy. But the common answer for “role models” should excite, and possibly scare, some of you parents. You are their “role models.” Against a society that says they can be their own person, and a rule we had that you can’t say “my parents,” that was the most common answer. You are their role models.
Around 5:30 we pulled in to Shreveport and grabbed some dinner at Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers where we learned from Kurt that “the sauce is the key.” It was as good as you would expect a fast food restaurant with the phrase “chicken fingers” in the name to be. Then a few bathroom breaks, and undulations between serious time and crazy time, later we pulled in to Vicksburg.
After some slight room mix up, we are now settling in to some much needed sleep. We’ve lost an hour due to the devil known as “Daylight Savings Time,” and will be losing another as we cross in to the Eastern Time Zone. Time travel takes it’s toll. I’m going to go to bed now. I will update as often as I can. I hope you enjoy.
[Update since waiting for proper internet:]
We have made it to Birmingham and are eating in the food court at Riverchase Mall. Nice place. Scary bathrooms. Not dirty, just…scary. It was like walking through a slaughterhouse or something. Anyway. We’re safe, and are on our way out. Atlanta here we come!
The internet is acting a bit wonky here in the…well, it rhymes with Sandlewood Sweeps. We’ll leave it at that. In light of that, I’m writing this last night. Not sure what verb tense that would be.
We began our day in the lovely parking lot of the Lighthouse at FBCA. After a prayer by Kurt Krodle, the Youth Minister, we shoved twenty some-odd kids and five of us adults in to three vans, and headed east.
But these aren’t just any vans. These are vans where relationships are built. Cheesy, right? I know. But it’s true. Road trips bring people together. Close quarters create an environment where your choices are enjoy each other and enjoy the trip, or hate each other and hate the trip. Luckily our van, VAN 2!, is choosing the former.
Sarah Pardue, FBCA Associate Youth Minister, took the wheel today with Taylor as her “co-pilot”(quite the important role). Addie, Anna B, Halie, Meagan, Joe, Connor and myself rounded out the rest of the van. I knew this would be good before we pulled out. Great group.
There was your typical song blasting to kick off the trip, but that led in to an interesting trend the rest of the ride. We had a sort of undulating pattern between blaring crazy songs, and having deep, quiet moments. One minute we would be jamming to Journey, the next everyone would have out there Backyard Bible Club books, getting ready for the kids. Then we’d have some more music, and before you know it we’re having serious relationship talks with some very mature young’ns. Then, almost out of nowhere, five ladies would start screaming Wicked songs…beautifully, of course.
Somewhere in the we played a “Top 3” game in which we all listed our top three in areas like, “animals, vacation spots and role models.” Common animals were monkeys and panda bears. Common places were Brazil, Africa, Australia/New Zealand and Italy. But the common answer for “role models” should excite, and possibly scare, some of you parents. You are their “role models.” Against a society that says they can be their own person, and a rule we had that you can’t say “my parents,” that was the most common answer. You are their role models.
Around 5:30 we pulled in to Shreveport and grabbed some dinner at Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers where we learned from Kurt that “the sauce is the key.” It was as good as you would expect a fast food restaurant with the phrase “chicken fingers” in the name to be. Then a few bathroom breaks, and undulations between serious time and crazy time, later we pulled in to Vicksburg.
After some slight room mix up, we are now settling in to some much needed sleep. We’ve lost an hour due to the devil known as “Daylight Savings Time,” and will be losing another as we cross in to the Eastern Time Zone. Time travel takes it’s toll. I’m going to go to bed now. I will update as often as I can. I hope you enjoy.
[Update since waiting for proper internet:]
We have made it to Birmingham and are eating in the food court at Riverchase Mall. Nice place. Scary bathrooms. Not dirty, just…scary. It was like walking through a slaughterhouse or something. Anyway. We’re safe, and are on our way out. Atlanta here we come!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)