One of the first things the mission had each of us do yesterday was decorate a regular old brown paper back with our name. This is for B Mail (bag mail). All week long we are encouraged to write notes to one another. (For those of you who are familiar with the Circle of Encouragement, it's the same concept.) It's so great to see the kids focusing on the kind things they can say to their friends, praising them for a job well done or thanking them for their friendship. For many of you who wrote letters to your teen and gave them to their mentor, those letters are being dropped into these bags each day. You can imagine the fun of peering down into your paper bag and discovering a letter from a loved one back home.
"A word fitly spoken is like
apples of gold in a setting of silver."
Proverbs 15:11
Today was our first day of VBS and each team ran two, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Our group went out to a place called Concepcion this morning and when we arrived there were four little girls waiting there for us. We had met them yesterday during our prayer walk and they were ready and waiting for us. One little girl named Ashley had a gift all ready for someone in our group and she chose Willow right off the bat. That was a great choice because Willow poured her heart out on the field today. If you don't know Willow then you are missing out on knowing one of the most joy-filled teens I've ever met. Everything she says and does is permeated with kindness, love and joy...it's a real treat for anyone who is around. All of the teens were awesome today. Each of them led in their particular job assignment and did so with enthusiasm and joy. I wish all of their parents could see them serving this way. They would all be so proud!
This afternoon our group went to another place called Linda Vista and when we arrived we were surprised to find the field had piles of concrete and rock and the church on the property is now someone's home. It caused us to pause for a few minutes to assess what we should do but before we knew it there were children running down the hill to join us. So we pulled out the jump ropes and frisbees and got busy having fun. Russell was in this crowd. He is about 10 years old and Russell did everything he could to turn our teaching and singing time upside down. But, our teen leaders persisted and did a terrific job staying on task. Nic Lubin and Russell took a special liking to one another and they ended up with bond that I'm confident will last all week. I am proud of Nic for taking the little guy under his wing...he was quite the little booger!
No comments:
Post a Comment