Fana noYesu

My flannel board flew away. Terri worked all morning piecing together the best reenactment of the Zacchaeus story anyone had every seen on a flannel board but, it was all for not. Right out of the gate, I was talking about Jesus being in Jericho and how the whole town came out to see him, including Zacchaeus, and it was right about that time a wind blew through the Church building, taking out Jericho quicker than Joshua, leaving me, the nervous teacher, to look at the children and say, “Hang on, I have to pick up Jesus.” (Zacchaeus, somehow, stayed on-board, though)

To Be Like Jesus (Xhosa: fana uYesu)
The township of Thembalethu is the spot for our vacation Bible school this week. It’s much like Conville, the streets are lined with one-room houses and hundreds of people just walking somewhere. It reminds me of the Apache reservations out west, without the graffiti. Our theme for the week is Be Like Jesus, or, in Xhosa (The language of this township), fana uYeshu. We arrived at the church building around 2:30 pm to set up and ready the room for, by the end of the week, will be some 500-600 children. Feverishly hanging some homemade decorations and trying to find an outlet that worked took up most of our first hour there. News travels fast in Thembalethu and soon kids were hanging out in the field by the church. With 30 minutes or so until VBS start time, I tried my feet (and lungs) at some South African soccer with some of the children. Pointing to a middle school aged boy, I turned to Eric and said, “That kid is really good.” The kid’s friend turned to me and said, “No, he’s excellent.”

Most assuredly, the building filled up, as we sang song after song with the children. They love to sing. And they sing very well. They would sing in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa, all in the same song. It’s really good on the ears. Once again, Joy and I played guitars and taught the children the song All We Need, as we did in Conville at the Church. They, too, loved it. We’re going to try and teach a new song every night at VBS. After the Zacchaeus story, the children spread out around the room and we all dove in on the crafts we had prepared. Each of us grabbed a handful of craft items, found a spot on the floor, and waited for the children to come gather around us. Surprisingly, it was very fluid, with no real hiccups. As always, the children pile into your laps, on your back, around your neck and anywhere else they can find. Brittni had a little girl hanging onto her neck for the most of the evening.

These are the moments you remember, though. They’re really the reasons why you come.
We are having such a great time here, with Pete and Fran (and Denzil), as they guide us through their daily lives – the mission work and all. They have been in this town for 10 years now and their influence is obvious. They seem to know everyone that works in the local restaurants, the exchange offices, the banks, etc. They definitely are not missionaries waiting for the people to come to them.

Spiritual Update
Our devotion this morning was from Esther 4. The back story on this passage is that Esther had been made queen of Persia through an impulsive beauty pageant sponsored by the king and his staff. Esther was one of the many Jews that did not return to Jerusalem in the late 6th century B.C. and was left to live her life in a different culture under different ideals. Her adopted father, Mordecai, gets wind of the king’s plan to exterminate the Jews and sends message to Esther, encouraging her to stop it. Esther nervously denies the challenge, to which Mordecai sends these words back:

“Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” -Esther 4:13-14

Mordecai was saying, “Listen, you’re not the only hope but, don’t you want to be? And who knows, maybe God has placed you here to do this very thing.” Our take-home: Don’t overlook daily opportunities to share God’s story with someone.

Continue to be in prayer for all of us. We appreciate all your comments on the blog – we’re reading them! So, keep ‘em coming!!! We all send greetings back home.