Hello!
I know-it's been a long time... But, I'm back, and will hopefully be posting more regularly again!
Today I'm excited to be sharing a guest post by a great friend named Marjorie :) Enjoy!
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In the fall of 2016 my parents
decided our family should do some mission work over the summer. We all thought
it was a good idea, so they began to contact missions. We didn’t get a response
until late January of this year, when we received a call. We were asked that we
help with Vacation Bible School on an Indian reservation out west. I was
intrigued with the idea, as was the rest of my family, and we decided to make a
go of it.
June 9, 2017 we arrived at the
reservation along with the rest of the VBS team. Adorable kids swarmed the
place, reuniting with old teachers and meeting the new. They were quick to make
friends with you, and weren’t too shy to come ask millions of questions. There
was nothing they loved more than when you pushed them on the swing or played
tag with them. Their energy found no limit.
The mission is in a very small town way out in a desolate part of prairie. It is seventeen miles off of a paved road one way, and twenty-five miles out on gravel the other way. Over seventeen miles from a gas station or grocery store. It is made up of tiny houses and a minimum occupation of three hundred people or more. The town is awake at all hours of the night and will sleep in until late in the morning. It was always a shock to see children out at extremely late hours. Considering the enthusiastic kids, it was definitely a good place to have Bible School.
A key factor in running Bible
School is passing out invitations. We split into groups and walked from door to
door handing them out. While passing out invitations I developed an outline of
what to say when people opened their door. It’s good to plan what you want to
say beforehand, just to save yourself from an awkward conversation. I would
begin by introducing myself and explain which church I was coming from. Then I
would move on to the purpose of my visit. I also used this technique when we
picked up the children to take them to Bible School. Sometimes the people were
enthusiastic about sending their kids, other times they would barely open the
door wide enough for you to hand them their invitation. Sometimes you would
pray with them, or you would have a very long and meaningless conversation with
a drunk. I found I really enjoyed relating to the people we met, and especially
the children.
The Bible School was divided into stations, so
if you were a group leader you would walk your age group from station to
station. The “stations” would include craft, snack, games, bible story, object
lesson, and maybe a few others. It was a good system, especially because it
would keep the kids hopping.
At
one of our locations I helped two teachers group lead the five year olds. A
good part of my week was spent holding four little hands at once trying to keep
control; playing duck-duck goose in the sweltering sun; and holding several
hot, sweaty kids in my lap. There were times when you would end the day in
exhaustion. I mean kids will be kids, and there’s not much you can do when 5 of
your 17 five year olds all take off at once.
At our evening location, I was
given a different perspective when I attended the older girls’ class. It was
amazing to become friends with the girls and to discover each of their
different personalities. As a whole they could be loads of fun, and it was very
difficult to leave them.
We closed off the week with a
program, and invited the children’s family to attend. Each group got up and
performed something—either a song or a short verse. Afterwards we served a
picnic supper and then said our goodbyes to the kids.
Early the next morning we left,
and traveled the long hours home.
As a whole my experience there
was a very good one. I’m already dying to go back again next year. I feel as if
the whole experience changed me for the better and helped me grow in my own
spiritual life—and it definitely broadened my comfort zone. I thank God for
sending me out west to that reservation—I was really blessed by it.
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Feel free to leave Marjorie a comment below!
So cool! I went on a mission trip a few years ago!
ReplyDeleteThat's so awesome I want to go on a mission trip never have though :(
ReplyDelete