So there's a button...

With Pete at the airport picking up more help from Hampton, GA (small world), we were left with the remaining van and 300 hundred kids bus home. The sun was setting and the rain was starting. After the nightly load-out of equipment into the van, we all piled in and…nothing. Scott turned the key and nothing happened. He turned the key again. Nothing. Again. Nothing. “Let’s get out and push!” (The van is a stick-shift, by the way) So we all leaned into the van and started to push. Nothing draws a crowd in a South African township like 6 white people shoving a van down the street – help soon arrived from out of nowhere. With the locals on our side, we all pushed the van while Scott kept trying the jump the engine. It never happened. So Fran called Pete and we waited on the side of the road for rescue to come. I played a little impromptu soccer with some children on the sidewalk and was schooled, once again, by some 7-year old. Pete showed up some 15 minutes later, climbed into the van, pushed a button, and the van started up, like new. “So there’s a button?” Oh well. There’s a phrase we learned in Panama a couple of years ago that goes, “Flexibility is your friend; rigidity is your enemy.” Double true!

From 110 to 283
Our opening night of VBS become a memory as the second night trumped its attendance by more than double, leaving us to adjust immediately to more kids, more noise, more crowd control problems and less room. We were getting close to the seams in the one-room Church building as more and more kids came in during the worship. The scary thought is that more will come throughout the week. However, Lindy did an awesome job with the story of The Good Samaritan, creatively teaching from the aisle, walking up and down the room, holding the attention of the kids like a pro. We all weighed in and helped by acting out the story alongside her teaching; this helped visualize the story for the kids. The Good Samaritan is one that resonates with everyone – all around us people are needed help and more often than not, we “pass by on the other side,” leaving family members, friends, and strangers to survive on their own. It’s one of those things that reminds of what Rob Bell said in Velvet Elvis, “I believe the Bible because it happens.”

Like I said earlier, night two of VBS was more than double from the night before. The kids are as full of energy as any in the states, and very eager to hear about this Jesus and his love for all people. Save a few disruptions from the older kids in the back of the room, our gatherings are awesome to behold. The singing is unreal, especially when the song calls for dancing. The building shakes as the 300 children jump in unison, similar to fans at a soccer match cheering on their team, all with one voice and rhythm. Terri is now in charge of worship – I think Fran got wind that Terri leads the preschool worship back in the states and the rest will unfold this week.

In Closing
Mission trip Vacation Bible Schools are tiring. Following Jesus is tiring. Our devotion this morning (Lindy G.) was from Luke 10 when Jesus quoted the Shema in answer to the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) is the call to give your whole self to God; not a piece here and there but, the whole being. It’s easier to hold it together for an hour on Sunday than it is to live a life of worship. Seeing all parts of life as a service to God is rough sledding, straight away. Our vocations, conversations, free time, etc. they all count, or, we must make them count. To love God with our heart, soul, mind and strength is a life-long journey to turn our whole lives into worship. So that’s our prayer. That’s our goal. That’s our stumbling block.

I ended the day with buying a local paper, all excited about reading the articles and such. Here’s the first line of the front-page story:

“Mnr. Riaan Loots (24) se lewensonderhoudende masjiene is Sondagmiddag afgeskakel nadat ‘n speller van Delicious hom Vrydagaand met ‘n stywe arm op die strot geslaan en daarna teen die kop geskop het.”

Your guess is as good as mine.