Well, here we are in beautiful Vancouver B. C., our first
service day complete, and once again God is showing me He is in control.
My groups work site is at New Beginnings Church, 2.1 kilometers
from the Church we are staying at, sweet, because this this city, beautiful as
it is, is no fun to drive in. We were told we would be providing simple manual
labor, possibly cleaning single mother’s homes, painting or maybe helping prepare
for their VBS next week. This sounded good as I am most comfortable doing good,
honest, sweaty work that keeps me busy.
Imagine our surprise when we arrived at New Beginnings and
found this is their VBS week. But, hey, you know, no big deal. We can adjust,
be flexible, and fill the need.
However, their VBS is done for “First Nation” children, what
their original, native people are called. These children are almost exclusively
from single family homes and have little to no what we would consider “discipline”
or “structure” in their lives.
These children literally run amuck, requiring incredible
amounts of energy and patience just to contain within the church designated
areas, let alone teach anything. Being a human jungle gym was not the physical
work I had anticipated.
Today I was kicked in the face, had every limb viciously torqued,
dragged down by several little ones like a hunted elk and bitten (no blood
drawn). In the second half hour it got worse.
But, through it all, I see God at work, through us, as these
children are desperate for attention of any kind, even negative. Pastor Ted, in
his sending prayer, asked for us all to be granted “unlimited patience” (gee,
thanks Ted). With patience I truly believe we will make a difference in this
place, with these children, and isn’t that what service in His name truly
means?
No comments:
Post a Comment