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.