wgjones3
06-10-2004, 02:19 AM
What can I say? This whole week working with the kids has been so earth-changing for me and I'm not really doing anything. I can't imagine what the real helpers are feeling like.
My church is doing Lava Lava Island. They've got the youth sanctuary dressed out like a tropical island-themed prom. :eek: I'm up in the soundbooth, clicking buttons on the computer, making the pretty power point projections on screen, working with some of the teens from the church. These guys are awesome. When I was that age, nobody had anything to do with me. These guys made me feel like one of them, which was nice for somebody my age with a blown back and all. And the little kids--the ones VBS is for--let me tell you, they're a blessing beyond words.
Tonight, Pastor Steve (who is a writer and poet himself, and may visit our little assylum if I didn't scare him off when I told him about it) talked about the Bible point of the night, "Jesus gives us courage." He asked all the little kids to close their eyes and bow their heads. 168 of them, I think was the count. Anyway, he asked all these tiny little people if they had something they were afraid of. Whether it was bad dreams or bullies at school or getting bad grades or moving to a new town. Whatever it was, he asked them ro raise their hands. From the soundbooth, I had a panoramic view of the sanctuary. Kids were all around me, and all around me, kids raised their little hands. My eyes started to water. I'm not an emotional person by any means, but I felt like raising my hand, too. All my fears were rolling in my mind like boiling water. Fear of failure, fear of never getting published, fear of being insane, alone, and hated by everyone around me. I wanted to raise my hands, too, and I probably would have if I thought none of the VBS helpers would have seen me. But I gotta tell you, when I saw all those little hands go up, I remembered when I was that age, threatened by a bully, trying to adjust to kids who didn't like me. I was one of those outcasts back then, you see. Still am to most extents.
I'd say that over 100 kids had their hands raised. Pastor Steve asked the ones who raised their hands to come up to the altar. The room was quiet. That was a miracle in and of itself, if you think about it. 168 kids in a room together being quiet? Well, I guess 50 or 60 or maybe 70 or 80 went up to the altar. Pastor Steve asked for everyone on staff to go down front but I didn't. I'm a chicken. I was afriad to go, afraid somebody might mistake my sincerity. So I knelt in the soundbooth and prayed.
I prayed for some of you here, because God had you on my heart. And I prayed for those kids, those precious little kids. I've been loosely involved in children's ministry since February, but nothing I've done compares to what I witnessed tonight. Those kids are amazing. They love God. They worship God. They pray to God. They'll go out those doors to families that may not know God, they may even go home to families who hate God but just had to get them out of the house for 3 hours every night this week. I just wish we had a better world to give those kids. I wish there was something more. I wish VBS would last forever, to be honest.
If you ever get the chance to work with kids, don't turn it down. God will teach you, through them. He might even change your life.
My church is doing Lava Lava Island. They've got the youth sanctuary dressed out like a tropical island-themed prom. :eek: I'm up in the soundbooth, clicking buttons on the computer, making the pretty power point projections on screen, working with some of the teens from the church. These guys are awesome. When I was that age, nobody had anything to do with me. These guys made me feel like one of them, which was nice for somebody my age with a blown back and all. And the little kids--the ones VBS is for--let me tell you, they're a blessing beyond words.
Tonight, Pastor Steve (who is a writer and poet himself, and may visit our little assylum if I didn't scare him off when I told him about it) talked about the Bible point of the night, "Jesus gives us courage." He asked all the little kids to close their eyes and bow their heads. 168 of them, I think was the count. Anyway, he asked all these tiny little people if they had something they were afraid of. Whether it was bad dreams or bullies at school or getting bad grades or moving to a new town. Whatever it was, he asked them ro raise their hands. From the soundbooth, I had a panoramic view of the sanctuary. Kids were all around me, and all around me, kids raised their little hands. My eyes started to water. I'm not an emotional person by any means, but I felt like raising my hand, too. All my fears were rolling in my mind like boiling water. Fear of failure, fear of never getting published, fear of being insane, alone, and hated by everyone around me. I wanted to raise my hands, too, and I probably would have if I thought none of the VBS helpers would have seen me. But I gotta tell you, when I saw all those little hands go up, I remembered when I was that age, threatened by a bully, trying to adjust to kids who didn't like me. I was one of those outcasts back then, you see. Still am to most extents.
I'd say that over 100 kids had their hands raised. Pastor Steve asked the ones who raised their hands to come up to the altar. The room was quiet. That was a miracle in and of itself, if you think about it. 168 kids in a room together being quiet? Well, I guess 50 or 60 or maybe 70 or 80 went up to the altar. Pastor Steve asked for everyone on staff to go down front but I didn't. I'm a chicken. I was afriad to go, afraid somebody might mistake my sincerity. So I knelt in the soundbooth and prayed.
I prayed for some of you here, because God had you on my heart. And I prayed for those kids, those precious little kids. I've been loosely involved in children's ministry since February, but nothing I've done compares to what I witnessed tonight. Those kids are amazing. They love God. They worship God. They pray to God. They'll go out those doors to families that may not know God, they may even go home to families who hate God but just had to get them out of the house for 3 hours every night this week. I just wish we had a better world to give those kids. I wish there was something more. I wish VBS would last forever, to be honest.
If you ever get the chance to work with kids, don't turn it down. God will teach you, through them. He might even change your life.