While most of my posts are about the boys, I want to take this opportunity to share about the amazing trip I have been on this past week. Along with 11 other people from Covenant Pres Cleveland, I went to Sunnyside, NY in the Burroughs of Queens. We went with the mission of holding a VBS for the kids in this community who are largely unsupervised during the summer months and many of whom have never had any exposure to the Bible, much less been told something like "Jesus loves you" or "Jesus died for your sins". They didn't even know who Jesus was or what a sin was.
We arrived last Saturday, and literally hit the ground running! We went straight to the school where Grace Fellowship Church (our host church while there) meets and where the VBS was to be held. We spent several hours being oriented about the neighborhood, decorating, figuring out logistics, and going over all of the details of the week with the local volunteers.
After decorating, the NY folks took us to a Peruvian restaurant where several us ate a few firsts! Laurel thought she was enjoying some delicious cauliflower that actually turned out to be ceviche (raw fish "cooked" in lime juice). It was good, but boy was she in shock! We also had fried baby octopus, and flan.
Sunday we enjoyed morning worship @ GFC and lunch with all the church members. We had NY style pizza! YUM! After lunch we spent a few more hours decorating, practicing skits, and then took the subway into Manhattan for Redeemer Pres' night service. Even though both of these services were totally in music style, formality, and environment from CPC, they were also Christ centered and amazing!
After church we walked and walked and walked, seeing bits of the Upper East Side. We also stopped by Time Square on our way home! What a wild place!
Wandering around Manhattan
Edge of Central Park
Break dancers/street performers
Time Square
Our day Monday started bright and early! We were at the school by 7:30 to finish our decorations, get our crafts laid out, and prepare for the kids! We had 45 kids come that first day. I taught the 4th & 5th grade class, with Anna Wood as my assistant. The kids were with us from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm everyday! We served breakfast, lunch, & snack, tutored them for 1.5 hrs/day in reading, language, and math, as well as the typical VBS skits, Bible story, classroom application, crafts, recreation, and music.
Some of the really special things we did with the kids were:
-making their own tie-dyed t-shirts to wear on their field trip
-watching a movie called "The story of Jesus for Kids"
-taking them on a field trip to the Hall of Science in Flushings (which included about 10 blocks of walking and a ride there and back on the subway!!!)
My kids! In the back is Andres, Jayson, Harjot, Bryan, Jack. In front is Pamela, Gabriel, Steve, James, Cristian, ME, Jason, Eric, Nalisa, & Alex. They have totally stolen my heart!
The kids were presented with th
Sweet and smart Nalisa - can speak Japanese, Thai, Mandarin, Spanish & English (not all fluently, but knows a lot! She is also a talented writer and math whiz!)
Enjoying breakfast.
Music time! Singing Hallelu, Hallelu, Praise Ye the Lord!
Mike did a great job presenting the gospel in Thursdays skit by describing our sinful hearts as "buggery". He went on to explain that only believing in Jesus would get rid of our buggery hearts! The kids totally latched onto this and kept repeating it!
After the gospel presentation and watching the movie, we divided into small groups and spent time letting the kids ask questions about what they had learned. Here are some of my kids questions:
1. Why are we born?
2. Where is heaven? What does it look like? What is hell like?
3. How do we get to heaven? Will we know people?
4. How do we know God is real?
5. How did God make us?
6. Can someone really really really bad become a Christian?
And many, many others! Anna and I spent nearly two full hours trying to answer their questions in words that they could understand. I tried to direct them back to passages of scripture and by reading stories from my "Jesus Storybook Bible" about creation, God's plan of redemption, and even about David who killed someone, and yet God still loved him! That totally blew them away that God can forgive such a horrible sin like murder! After the nearly 2 hrs, lunch was ready, but one little boy exclaimed "Awww, man! I want to hear more!!!" There were many times like that where I felt like the kids were really getting it, that I just broke down and cried!
On Friday, we did take a field trip. It was very fun, but exhausting and nerve racking!
Riding on the subway (look how cute their shirts turned out!!!)
Getting ready to go in
Their favorite part was the sports section. This was a pitching cage that told you how fast your pitches were.
The whole group in front of the rocket. This museum was home to the World's Fair way back when and is in the first MEN IN BLACK movie (where they show the alien's going back to their flying saucers!!) You can also see the edge of US OPEN courts, and METS stadium from their parking lot.
Last night (Friday), we hosted a huge cookout for the kids and their families. John Storck spent all day cooking Memphis style BBQ and a ton of other food. We presented the skits, songs, and message to these parents, many of whom have never step foot in a church before! Several parents showed interest in attending the church now, b/c of the love we were able to show their kids this week!
Kids and parents at family night.
What an amazing gift to be a tool in God's hand this this week! Even if I never see these kids again, I have faith that God is going to finish the good work that was begun this week, and I will see them in Heaven one day!
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