Walk Away

I should be writing a Social Ethics paper on Immigration right now, but I am not…I should be resting because I am fighting a horrible cold, but I am not…instead, I am thinking. Now some of you may wonder why I posted this blog on the blog about my African journey, well this blog has to do a lot with my journey since being stateside and deals with South Africa. I’ve tried to write a blog like this probably once a month since August, but each time I stop. I’m not sure exactly why. Perhaps it isn’t the right time. Perhaps I’m afraid of posting it for Wake Div folks to read and critique on how “theologically sound” it is. Perhaps I wasn’t ready to be this vulnerable, translucent, and real with myself let alone my community. Now, however, the words are coming and I must put them down.

Let me back up, over the course of the past few weeks I was asked to consider to lead a team to SA in May then told that that wasn’t a possibility then this week asked if I would help partially lead it and some of the expenses would be covered. Now, this last scenario, the partial leading/partial expenses covered was the scenario I did not want to happen. A few weeks ago when the idea of me leading was thrown out there, I told some close friends, “I want this decision made for me. If the trip is fully paid for, I’ll go. If the trip isn’t paid for at all, I won’t go. I just don’t want it to be partially covered and I have to decide.” Why you may wonder did I not want to make this decision? Because I knew it would be one of the hardest decisions of my life.

Ready for some real, life, Molly Brummett honesty that has been pent up for almost 6 plus months now? (If not, stop reading now and know that I decided to turn down the trip to SA.) When I was in South Africa, I felt the greatest peace and joy in my life. I loved the people. I loved doing ministry every day. I loved the community. I loved the natural beauty. I loved the pace of life. I loved falling in love. I loved life there. I felt called to South Africa, and I felt at peace there. In my head, the three months I spent there was just the beginning, just like my three weeks there the summer before was just the beginning of my return the next year. The entire time I was there, I felt the confirmation from God that I was called to South Africa in a big way. Therefore, when I left, I had complete faith and trust that God was calling me back to that place to do ministry for the year and was calling me back to be with this guy I was falling madly for and was calling me back to continue the work and ministry I had begun there. So, when I left, I didn’t say bye. I didn’t seek closure because I was confident I was headed back on a plane that August for the year. Until mid July, that was the reality that seemed to be unfolding. My parents gave me their blessing to return, a potential job was falling into place, I had this amazing guy promise me a future, I had confirmation from God as I was seeking, asking, and knocking and doors were opening. Then mid-July happened and everything changed. On that night, all my plans, hopes, dreams, thoughts about where I felt God leading me changed in one unexpected phone call I was told, “Molly, everything I felt and thought has changed. You do not need to buy a plane ticket. You don’t need to come.” Now, I could’ve gone and lived there and done my thing and “stuck it to the man,” BUT I knew that that was a toxic environment to walk into, so I stayed.

I was in the valley in a huge way. I was so pissed off at God. I didn’t know what direction I was going. I knew I was signed up for Divinity School and knew I was called into ministry but was questioning if now was the best time for me to go. I was wondering if I should take a year of to get in a better state of mind. I wondered if maybe I could still go to South Africa and not have to deal with all the hard emotional things that faced me there. I was hurting in a way I had never hurt before. I felt that the place that I loved, the place where I felt the greatest peace and joy was ripped away from me in a instant. Where was the goodness of God in that?

Well, I decided to go to Wake. I decided to try it out for a semester just to see. I must say, Wake truly is the perfect fit for me. I couldn’t have asked for a better community, teachers, academic rigor, or “fit.” I truly have loved this experience and am forming friendships and memories I know will last a lifetime. Yet, the door to South Africa has been haunting me because for some reason I could not close that possibility. I even had a professor call me into his office last fall and say, “Molly, your academics are struggling because you are living through this lens and life of South Africa that is haunting you. You have to find a way to put South Africa on a shelf for a while or you are going to be frustrated all three years here.” I balled in his office as he told be this because I knew he was right, but I was not ready to put South Africa “on the shelf.”

This leads me to being asked to lead and/or potentially go to SA in May. Clynton always joked and said God brought me to South Africa to start teaching me patience. He’d always say, “Patience my dear, patience.” Well, patience is what I’ve realized I must seek. Since arriving at Wake Div, God continues to whisper into the deepest parts of my being saying, “remember the seasons, remember the cyclical, beautiful journey you are on.” In the words of my father, “trust the process.” Seasons are an amazing thing. They happen every, single year. You move from fall to winter to spring to summer then it repeats all over. My faith journey since leaving South Africa went from a Spring/Summer high to a Fall/LONG Winter drudge. The friendships forming and community building at Wake Div were pockets of sunshine along the way. Finding Green St Church and connecting with people who’d experienced things like I had in South Africa were like winter blooms. Yet, the darkness and the sadness continued to cover my soul. I became so busy with school that I tried to fake happiness and contentment so much so that I started convincing myself I was ok and already had closure with SA and just need to “get a grip.”

But then the opportunity to return to South Africa came up, and I had to wrestle with my lack of closure there. I had to wrestle with the reality that I was holding on and memorializing one point in time in my life in such a way that it was keeping me from fully enjoying life to the full in the present. I had turned South Africa into THE defining moment of my life. It was the place I was at peace. It was the place where I felt I was living out the calling for my life. It was where I fell in love and saw myself spending the rest of my life with someone. It was where I experienced God in a profound, real, indescribable way. It was a place I did not want to nor knew how to walk away from.

In the midst of this decision of thinking I’m going then not going then the possibility of going at a reduced price, Ash Wednesday fell on my mission immersion experience to NYC. Before receiving ashes, the minister with tears in her eyes discussed how often we must walk through times of Ashes covering us as we walk towards the hope found in Christ through partaking of the Eucharist. We then received ashes and partook in the Eucharist. In that moment, I felt the presence of God in a way that I hadn’t felt the presence of God since South Africa. God was holding me. God was freeing me from South Africa haunting me. Earlier that week I took Eucharist from a trans-gendered woman who was Christ incarnate as she prayed over me. Her words spoke directly to the deepest parts of my soul. These moments of feeling the presence of God in a profound, intimate, close way comforted me and gave me the courage to take hold of the hauntings from South Africa. In those moments, I knew that God was with me and had been with me suffering as I suffered and hurting as I hurt, all the while, walking with me as I continue to journey towards to hope, the euangellion, which I proclaim. This week, spring has started to bloom in my soul again.

This new life and new birth and new power felt from deep within gave me the courage to say no to South Africa in May. As my father always says, “Not now, doesn’t mean never.” I am finally practicing the trust and patience in God that one day I will return to South Africa to say goodbye and to have some form of closure, but that is not now. Now, I am here. I am at Wake Div. I am walking this journey preparing myself for vocational ministry. Now, I am seeking the face of God again. Now I am seeking joy. Now I am finally moving forward and not holding onto 3 wonderful months of my life as the only “high light” of my life. Now, I am finally resting in the arms of God again and not fighting it. Now, I am realizing life moves on and beautiful things come from the ashes, praise be to God.

Here are some lyrics to a song that sum up some of my feelings from these past few days as I decided to not turn to SA:

Walk Away: Ben Harper

Oh no

Here comes that sun again

That means another day

Without you my friend

And it hurts me

To look into the mirror at myself

And it hurts even more

To have to be with somebody else

And it's so hard to do

And so easy to say

But sometimes

Sometimes you just have to walk away

Walk away

With so many people

To love in my life

Why do I worry

About one

But you put the happy

In my ness

You put the good times

Into my fun

And it's so hard to do

And so easy to say

But sometimes

Sometimes you just have to walk away

Walk away

And head for the door

We've tried the goodbye

So many days

We walk in the same direction

So that we could never stray

They say if you love somebody

Then you have got to set them free

But I would rather be locked to you

Than live in this pain and misery

They say time will

Make all this go away

But it's time that has taken my tomorrows

And turned them into yesterdays

And once again that rising sun

Is droppin' on down

And once again you my friend

Are nowhere to be found

And it's so hard to do

And so easy to say

But sometimes

Sometimes you just have to walk away

Walk away

And head for the door

You just walk away

Walk away

I am not walking away forever from South Africa, but I am walking away for now. I am trusting in a God who redeems even the greatest hurts, pains, sorrows, and wilderness. I am hoping in the love, joy, and power that comes from the Eu-Angellion, the GOOD NEWS, that Christ proclaimed so long ago and continues to proclaim. I am walking towards life again. Finally, I am walking towards LIFE again…here…right where I am; wherever my journey leads. May God continue to bless me with enough foolishness to believe I can make a difference in this world...

Final Thoughts...

“I know this moment all to well as by now, you do to. This moment of realization that a journey is over. The realization that the life you had here is no longer and the old is the new reality. Know this, that although you have left South Africa behind, you have not ended this journey, but changed locations. I want you to hold onto this but don’t make it your defining moment. Don’t make it the highlight in your life. Make it a chapter in the story God is penning for you.”

These words from a wonderful, close friend who richly blessed my time in South Africa gives me hope as I continue to make this transition out of South Africa back into America, Tennessee, Carson Newman and home. Everyone keeps on asking me how my “experience” was and I find myself cringing. I cringe because to me the 11 weeks I spent in Cape Town, South Africa is more than an experience. It is more than a trip. It is a part of my life that so shaped me I am forever changed.

I am not sure in all the ways that I am changed. I am not completely sure how what I experienced and who I continued to become in South Africa will transcend into my life back here. But I do know that it will. I do know that I must be patient and continue to trust this process of faith back home. I do know that my time in South Africa far exceeded any expectations I could ever imagine. I do know that when I went to South Africa last July I left a piece of myself there, and I do know that when I left after these 11 weeks, I left myself. In South Africa I felt a peace resounding in my entire being that had been missing for a while. In South Africa I found my independence yet dependence. In South Africa I saw the grace in community. In South Africa I found hope. In South Africa I found joy. In South Africa I found the beauty of seeking God in the every day. In South Africa I realized the liberation of patience and trusting God’s timing. In South Africa I discovered a huge part of myself. I continued to see the story that God breathed into me when I was created be revealed. In South Africa I truly lived.

I could not have had such a wonderful, life giving time without the people who entered into my story with me. To Sarah and Casey: thank you for showing me the beauty in living the life you are called to even if that goes against “society.” To Kenny and Carla: thank you for showing me the beauty in a true partnership for marriage. To Danielle: thank you for your continued laughter and sweet spirit that made even the hardest days happy. To Melanie Dill, Meagan, Kendra, and Melissa: thank you for the Fab 5 and being sisters that I’ve never had. Thank you for the laughter, joy, honesty, and love we shared. To Ronnie, Amy and Andy: thank you for befriending me form the get go and always being there for me from borrowing hair straightners to jeans to laughter. To Clynton: thank you for being a constant from the very beginning. To Alicia: thank you for always picking me up with a smile on your face and listening ear. Our car rides mean more to me than you know. To Christina: thank you for pouring into me and for the countless Mugg and Bean chats we shared. To the Ocean View staff: thank you for letting me do ministry alongside you. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your lives. Thank you for pouring into me. To the Teens Team: thank you for letting me be the nerdy brain box I am and for bringing me continual joy the 11 weeks I was there. To the children of Ocean View and Mountain View: thank you for being Christ to me in so many ways.

This blog seems so inadequate as I re-read what I’ve written. Words cannot sum up the past 11 weeks of my life. Words cannot adequately express how I changed and how I am impacted. Words cannot adequately express how much those I befriended and who befriended me mean to me. If I was forced to sum up my entire time in one word, however inadequate that word may be, it would be “love.” 1 John 4:7 was lived out to the fullest while there. And it is that love I hold on to and bring back with me.

Words cannot adequately express my past 11 weeks, but thank you for following my inadequate words these past 11 weeks and for entering into my journey with me.

This journey has just begun. The story is not finished. God is continuing to pen my life’s story. There is no period after my time in South Africa but merely a momentary pause, an ellipsis perhaps, as I continue this journey stateside for a bit.

A Moment with Nathaniel

Tuesday was my last full day as a Living Hope volunteer. It was a heart-wrenching day from my last time in morning devotion to my last Teens Team meeting to my exit interview. All day long I was trying to soak up every moment while looking forward to as well as dreading Kids Club because I knew when Kids Club was over and as I said my goodbyes then my 10 weeks of ministry here was “over.” Then, Nathaniel and I had a moment and I had an epiphany.

Nathaniel has been one 10 year old boy that I have connected with throughout my time at Ocean View Kids Club. He has a smile that lights up the entire room and is always up for a chat. On Tuesday, however, Nathaniel was starting to nag and punch another girl so Alistar made him go outside as punishment. My heart wrenched at this because I thought, “Oh man…my last day in club and Nathaniel isn’t even a part of it!” But, as club went on and our kids began to color, I decided to go outside and see if I could find Nathaniel. Nathaniel was outside on the steps just frowning and looking like he had the whole weight of the world on his shoulders. I sat down beside him in silence for quite some time because he was not responsive to my questions then finally the silence broke. Nathaniel with tears streaming down his face said, “Molly, it was a tough day today. My friends were just really mean to me at school and said awful things to me. It was just hard. And no one understands.” In those moments after Nathaniel spoke I tried to give encouragement as best I could. I’m really not sure if what I said changed his life or if he left feeling any better but after we finished chatting I said, “want to color with me?” And in those moments of coloring as we just sat and colored I knew that ministry of presence was meaning volumes. Tears streamed down Nathaniel’s face as we just sat and colored and I hugged him. In spending time with Nathaniel Tuesday I was reminded again of the power of the ministry of presence.

If I had been distant to these kids the past 10 weeks then that moment would have just been an awkward American volunteer who came in to “try to save the day.” If I had spent the entire time lecturing Nathaniel and hammering with questions about why he hit that girl or why his friends were mad or whether or not he showed love to his enemies he probably would have shut me out. But, in the moments when I told Nathaniel that I had plenty of days were people were just downright cruel to me and in the moments when he and I colored, the spirit of God moved. Nathaniel showed me that sure I’ve spoken truth into these kids lives from the Bible stories and such. And yes, the children have come to know more and more about Christ through the curriculum we teach. The curriculum will still be in use after I go and more volunteers will come in and pick up where I left off wth that, but what they cannot replace is my ministry of presence here. I did not do it perfectly. Sometimes I probably should have spoken more or asked more questions about the kids belief in Christ. But, through Nathaniel I realized that the moments I spent coloring, dancing, running around, braiding hair, holding hands, hugging necks, and just sitting and laughing with the children are where God moved the most. I kept on thinking about Job’s friends and how the first 7 days they came and sat with Job. They showed him ministry of presence but then when they started speaking and trying to say the “right, Biblical” things, they messed it all up because they didn’t know when to be quiet. Ministry of presence is a powerful tool, and I’m not sure what parts of my ministry will last after I leave this place, but through Nathaniel I gained hope that all my coloring, smiling, laughing and just being with kids is ministry enough and ministry that God has used, is using, and will continue to use to ever reveal and redeem these beautiful children of God.

Quick Re-Cap

1. Thursday evening was the outreach for Mountain View, and in the moments as the people came rushing in, I realized how blessed I am that I am lucky enough to call these people “friend.” It’s funny because often when we head out to do service we think of how we are going to help those in the greatest need. But really, it’s those you help whom enrich your life far greater than you ever enriched theirs. As the children ran around me, hugged me, laughed with me, and danced and singed in the aisles with me, I realized how blessed I am to be a part of their lives. The people of Mountain View and Ocean View are a part of me, and they will always be.

2. Friday evening was spent in Sutherland, South Africa. Sutherland is in the Northern Cape, and its claim to fame is that it contains the largest observatory and second largest telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. I’ve always been enamored by the stars because when I star gaze I am reminded of what a great, big God we serve. Friday evening was no different. As I looked at galaxies, colored stars, Saturn, and many more things through telescopes, and as I stopped on the side of the road to just gaze in awe at the beauty of the night sky, I was comforted. I am comforted because in those moments, I was reminded that I am far more precious than a star to God. I am comforted because I am reminded that the universe is much bigger than my tiny world. I am comforted because I see the beauty of God and in looking at the stars am reminded that in all things God works for the good. I am comforted because I know while leaving this place I love as I go home facing lots of uncertainty and lots of new adventures, I am far more precious and loved by God than any star in the sky, sand in the sea or words could say.

3. Saturday evening was spent with close friends here. It was a time of baking, crying, laughing, and enjoying company. In those moments I was thankful for my time here. Thankful I’ve grown close enough to some that I know I can cry and share my true emotions about leaving. In those moments, I also was thankful that community and hospitality are two of the greatest ways God shows us great love.

I know this post was a short one, and I promise I will blog more soon. I have been crazy busy with my finals days here, and I am trying to soak up each moment I can here. Know that I will blog longer soon. I also can’t wait to celebrate and share my South African journey in person with many of you very soon. J

A Time for Everything

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to med, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

There is a time for everything. I have said before that this time that I’ve experienced my South Africa journey could not have been a more “perfect” time. God so intricately used my past experiences and growth to mold and shape me into this place where I was ready and open for these past 10 weeks. I know there is a season for everything just as the writer of Ecclesiastes so poignantly states. The problem I am in is that I do not see my season of time being up here. Usually, in the past, when I’ve gone away to a new place for different reasons, toward the ends of my time I realize that my season is up there and am ready to return home. Now, there are huge parts of me that are ready to return home and ready to hug necks and share life with my family, friends, and friends who are family back in the States. But, with that being said, I do not feel like my season of time is up here yet. It is especially hard when I look towards my future and see myself being busy with graduate school for the next 3 years and realize that it could possibly be 3 years before I return for an extended period of time to the place that stole my heart. But, in all of this, I am realizing the importance of trust and patience. I am realizing that though my physical amount of time may be up here for now, the season of my life in which this place has had and will continue to have is not over. I must remain faithful, patient, and trust the inner voice within as I continue to figure out what this season of my life means for the days, weeks, months, and years to come.

A Taste of Community

On Sunday afternoon, I had a great “taste” of community. Meagan an LSE in Ocean View whom I’ve grown close to insisted that I must have a Gatsby before I left. If you do not know what a Gatsby is let me explain: it is a heart attack on a plate. Not really, but it’s close. A Gatsby is the famous sub of South Africa that consists of lots of bread, French fries, meat, sauces, and more sauce and more grease. I am not a fan of unhealthy to the extreme that the Gatsby is, but I knew that the symbol of the Gatsby was an important one. I also knew it wouldn’t kill me to stop calorie counting in order to have this South African dish. Now, the Gatsby is a symbol of community because the thing is HUGE and one person cannot eat it alone. So, you eat it with others and when you order it they slice it for however many people. People kept on telling me that in the colored community especially Gatsby’s symbolized your community coming together to share in this delicacy. So as Meagan, Melanie, Kendra and I sat at Muizenburg beach conquering the beast that is “the Gatsby,” I couldn’t help but think on community and what that means to me.

As I ate the Gatsby with four women who have touched my life in so many ways this past semester, I felt the impact of this community here in Cape Town. The fact that I’ve had the blessing to be a part of people’s lives here is one of the greatest things from my experience here. The fact that I’ve been able to pour into as well as be poured into by so many these past 9 weeks is something I will never forget. Being surrounded by such wonderful community is what enriched my experience here. Being surrounded by such wonderful community is why I desire to come back here. From the fab five to random volunteer excursions to playing cards, walking to the store, Teens Team laughter, children’s embraces, laughter, tears, discussions about life, honesty, truth, prayer, and comfort, community engulfs me here. Yesterday walking to club the children in Ocean View ran out of their homes to give me hugs. In those moments, I knew that not only did I view this place as my community but they view me as part of their community. That meant so much. It was one of the most bitter-sweet moments of my time here because just as I feel this great sense of community, reality hits that I leave in a week. Last night as we celebrated Kendra’s birthday and I sat at the table surrounded by close, close friends it was bittersweet, too. But, I choose to focus on the sweet because I trust that this community I’ve found here is not going to end when I step on the plane and leave. I know that I will be back, but more importantly than that, I know that this community goes with me just as my community from home came with me here.

As I’ve realized all these things about my community here these past few days, I’ve been reminded of my wonderful community back home. As some of you know, one of the greatest things I took away from my first trip to Cape Town was the idea of UBUNTU: I am because we are. So much of who I am and who I’ve been here is because of YOU back home. It is because of my community the past 22 years in all the different forms it takes. It is because of my community back home that is easing the blow of leaving here and coming home. I know I am returning to a wonderful community that means so much to me.

The reality of leaving here is a painful one, but I know that I am not leaving here in spirit. And I know that I have a comforting community back home that will embrace me with open arms knowing that my life and community expanded these past 10 weeks and just as I brought my home community to South Africa, I am bring my South African community back home. So be prepared, because I am because we are. I am because of my family, my life long friends, my college pals, the RBC, my Passport days, FBC Jeff City, my DC community, Ocean View and Mountain View children, Living Hope, and all the wonderful people who are friends but have become my family these past 10 weeks here. I have a kaleidoscope of community, of UBUNTU and am so blessed. The thing is that we can all have UBUNTU if we but embrace community and importance of it. If there is one thing I’ve been constantly reminded of and know for certain from my journey of life thus far is that we were not made to live in isolation or to be alone on this journey. In community we see God at work. In community we find joy. In community we share burdens. In community we grow. In community we are because of one another.

Holiday Club Time

This past week has been a fun-filled, exhausting yet rewarding time as an LSE because of Holiday Club. The school system here is on a schedule very similar to year round school so around certain times of the year there are extended holidays. One extended holiday is over Easter. Whenever different holidays occur, Living Hope hosts Holiday Clubs where the kids and teens come for a longer program that involves special curriculum. Now normally at Kids Club in Ocean View we will have anywhere between 30-50 children but at Holiday Club this week we had over 100 and during Teens Holiday Club we were averaging 50!! Besides getting terribly sick on Friday after I ate my first samosa, it was a wonderful week on which I wish to share a bit.

On Tuesday morning all the Ocean View staff arrived at the office to discuss the plan for the week, give out assignments, and get pumped for the week ahead. During this hour planning time, my Type A self was a bit stressed out because it seemed like we had nothing planned, but during that time, it some how all cam together. During that time, Nathan (the head LSE in Ocean View) assigned me to be in charge of the pre-schoolers all week. Now, I love children, and since being here really have a new love for them. But at the same time, I do not feel that my gifts lie in helping the little ones. But somehow, some way, being with the preschoolers all week, teaching them the Bible Story, helping them with crafts, playing with them, holding them, feeding them, laughing with them, and loving them has been one of my high lights of my entire experience here. I absolutely adore these children. When I saw their face light up when the understood the Bible story my heart overflowed with joy. When they were crawling all over me yelling, “Molly, Molly play with me” or “Molly, Molly watch me do this” my heart melted. In those moments, I continued to realize how Christ is so evident in little children. Some how, God even granted me the patience and grace as I fed them and helped them go to the bathroom. Two things I said I would never do.

Not only did I love seeing the preschoolers have a wonderful time at Holiday Club but I loved seeing all the children love Holiday Club and come to a place where they knew they were loved and wanted. As the children sang songs, played games, recited memory verses and more, I realized that these Holiday Clubs are moments in these children’s lives that they will look back on and remember fondly. Just as I have VBS, Bible Drill, and countless other experiences I look back on fondly from my child hood, these children have the same memories. This entire week was a week where they were continually being exposed to the love of God. I realized that so much of living out our faith consists in just planting seeds. It consists of meeting needs, loving others, sharing good news, and being Christ’s hands and feet in whatever situation we find ourselves.

Another special moment for me from Holiday Club week was Teens Club. Now in the mornings here I am a member of the Teens Team so we wrote and created the entire curriculum for Holiday Club. Creating the curriculum was definitely a high light for me but seeing the curriculum be used and work was an even greater high light for me. Now the Teens Team jokes and calls me the “brain box,” and seeing some of my “brain box” ideas work this week for teens was exhilarating. I loved that the teens loved some of the crazy games I suggested. I loved that most of the teens that showed up were the gang bangers and guys strung out on drugs. I loved it because the entire weeks emphasis was on leadership and what good leadership looks like as we look to Christ as the ultimate example of servant leadership. Many of these guys that showed up are the “leaders” of Ocean View so as they sat and listened and soaked up a little or a lot of what was said, seeds were being planted in their lives. Meagan, has been praying that God would really use this Leadership Curriculum to transform the teens of Ocean View, and it was so neat and moving to see how God has, is, and will continue to work on this transformation of this area. On Thursday, Meagan asked me if I would deliver the Big Group talk for the teens. I was rather nervous speaking because I knew that most of these guys are very rough around the edges and probably don’t have the most respect for this American volunteer. But somehow, some way, God used what little thoughts and words I mustered to show how Christ is the ultimate servant, selfless leader and how Christ calls us to the same standard. As I spoke, I saw some teens dazing off into space but I saw others that were listening intently. That in itself was enough for me. It was yet another time when God continues to define the YES in my life. One of the activities for the teens the day I spoke was for them to take their snack for the day (fruit) and give it to someone in Ocean View who needed it more than them. To watch them all get excited as they did it, and to see the smiles that engulfed their faces as they handed out fruit was life-giving. It was a moment where I kept on thinking of the widow and her two coins. For many of these teens, this piece of fruit was a large part of the only food they’d have for the day yet they were willing to give it to someone who needed it more than them. For the widow, the two coins were all that she had to give yet she gave without hindrance. For us, we have much to give yet we often hold onto it thinking we may need it later on when disaster or tragedy or famine strikes. But that isn’t what Christ calls us to? Christ calls us to give all that we have whatever that may be, however much or little that is. And to think I gripe about giving 10% to tithe. But don’t you and I have so much more to give than just 10%?

It was a wonderful week for Holiday Club, and I cannot wait to see what lies ahead for my last full week of Kids Club this coming week! Hard to believe my time is coming to a close.