Witness Wednesday

I forgot to mention in my last post (well, there are lots of things in all these posts that I think I should have mentioned, I sit lying in bed at night smacking my head and thinking "man! I should have talked about that!) that Tuesday night was something of a night off. Providentially though, it was the night that Mr Y called. I answered the phone (brought by Mrs S) and he told me that a friend of his was getting married, moving, and needed to be out of his house by Thursday and he thought he'd have a couple of days but his boss had told him he wanted him to work, so he was in a bind and Dan thought that since there were four "strapping young fellows" nearby, we might be able to help. I said I would be glad to and two of the others said they would be glad to as well. All four of us ended going as well. I had just been speaking earlier that evening about how I didn't think they worked us hard enough (agreeing with Philip's observations of his team). We stayed for over an hour I believe, loading up a pickup and van (since they couldn't get a U-Haul) and taking stuff out of the house. It actually went very quickly because there wasn't as much stuff as expected. There were some other guys there who said they would handle the unloading so we stopped by Braum's for sodas and then headed on home and to bed. Probably about midnight again.

Yesterday was the day I was to present the VBS lesson. I was speaking on Saul's change of heart, how he was going and telling others about how Jesus was the Christ, being lowered in a basket, and also how we are living stones and being built up.

The first group I had was the "Amish Flintstones" (no one knows why they picked that name for themselves). I felt as though while they enjoyed the lesson (and I hope they learned from it) that I stammered a bit through it. I had practiced the lesson earlier but I really needed that personal interaction. The second group were the Boulders and I felt I did much better and was much smoother and comfortable. The last group was the Pebbles and it was with them that I felt the most comfortable and think the lesson went really well. They were the little girls, probably about 5 years old.

I was talking with Clay last night and telling him that it was so satisfying or amazing to see those little girls captivated by what I was telling them. I tried to put it in their language and they listened intently to everyone this past week I believe, but to see them hanging on my words was very much a blessing and I really enjoyed it.

The lesson went pretty much like this:
I started off with a re-telling of what had happened earlier, about how Saul was a mean man and wanted to stone Stephen and kill all of the Christians because they believed in Jesus. Then Jesus met Saul on the road to Damascus and Saul became blind. Then Ananias came and Saul's heart was changed and he believed in Jesus, Saul, who had been killing people for doing just that! Then something like scales fell off of his eyes and he could see!

Then came the story of Saul telling others about Jesus Christ and the Jews wanting to put him to death. They lay in wait for him at night, but his friends took ropes and a big basket and lowered Saul out of a window. I had a picture that I had drawn on a large piece of construction paper of Saul being lowered from a city wall, with Saul peeking out over the basket.

Then I talked about how the church was being built up, and how Jesus had told Peter that he would build the church on this rock and tied that in with the living stones from 1 Peter. I said that of course Jesus didn't mean that he was going to stick Peter in the ground and build a house on top of him! As our "living house" we did another exercise which everyone liked and that was to put about four children side by side on the ground (lying face down) then three stacked on top of them, then two, then one. Sort of like a pyramid, and we made this "living wall." After everyone stopped laughing and got sitting back down, I said that we were living stones but that doesn't mean we are stacked on top of eachother as we just did, but that we were able to build upon eachother and build one another up and be part of the church that Jesus is building up and how everyone who believes in Jesus is part of this church that is built of people!

Another illustration was taking building blocks out of Pastor Parnell's backpack and making a little wall out of it. Then I pushed it over and it fell all to pieces. This represented a loose wall. I then took legos and built a wall out of those and they stayed together, being "fitted together" (like the body of Christ) and stronger because of it.

Lastly I took David or Clay as my demonstration guy and had them stand on a loose foundation (the building blocks) as the foolish man who had built his house upon the sand. Then all the kids were to be the wind, the rain, and the floods. I had a picture of lightning I'd drawn and when I said "Go!" I started to make crashing noises and they all pushed against my demonstrator, who fell flat down. After the first group I figured that they may be too violent for me to stand up (it would be horrible to have your point ruined) so I got on my hands and knees and just went on the floor (which was solid concrete) and they pushed and pulled and crashed and roared but the house stood firm.

I tied it all together by saying that if we build our lives upon Jesus and have our foundation upon him as the rock of our salvation, we wouldn't be moved. If we built our life upon other things (like games, or sports, or dolls or whatever) then we would be just building our life upon sand, things that don't last. But if you do believe in Jesus, you will be built up as living stones and part of his church.

I felt so much more comfortable and flowing at the last group than at the first and had an idea of what I wanted to get said. On the little girls at the end, when they came in I acted very sleepy and needed them to help me to be awake, (which is something Katie did I think) so they shouted their name to me (Pebbles) and that helped to wake me up (and break the ice hopefully). I think that the leaders say something like
"who are we?"
"Pebbles"
"What do we do?"
"Get under people's feet!"
Which has something of a dual meaning and is pretty funny.

With the little girls especially, I triedto get them involved in answering questions. It was so much fun working with the children.

I helped them play Dodge Sponge ball a bit, they were just going to be throwing it at eachother but I jumped in and then Sam and they were attacking us mainly, since attacking eachother didn't seem like fun. But when big boys shriek and prance around, it seems to make the game much more enjoyable! We headed up for the finale and then everyone went home.

The mission team stayed a while with the CY and ate lunch, played Scattergories, and cleaned up, then went out for some more evangelism. I was paired up with Ruth and Evelyn this time and really enjoyed it. We had one lady who gave us very solid answers, for which we were appreciative and excited, most of the houses in the area were vacant and we ran out of door hangers. We got the address of one young lady who seemed to me to be very "giddy" and when answering the questions, would giggle at the end. It made me somewhat sad because she obviously had not thought about the seriousness of her situation. I hope that the questions we ask will prompt some people to do so and to begin to search.

Oh, and Evelyn, if you're reading this, I appreciated your reminding me to pray for the houses but I really hadn't forgotten, I just wanted to make sure we were far enough away so it didn't seem like we were standing in condemnation on the house if the person we'd just visited happened to be watching. I am very burdened to pray for the households we visit and even afterward, and during would pray that the hangers we left for those not at home would bear fruit and that the seeds would not be sown in vain. We don't know what God may bring from those and may never know until we get to heaven.

We heard some testimonies in the afternoon. Anna, if you're reading this, I really did appreciate hearing yours and how you quite openly talked about the condition of your heart and how even though other people couldn't see it, you knew of your sin. I think that is a powerful witness to others. Then I headed out with Brad to get a swimsuit (I needed a new one anyway and hadn't brought mine) while the rest of the team took my car and went to the S house to get theirs. We were supposed to meet up at the N house but Clay missed where he was supposed to turn off and ended out in the countryside, Brad guided him back to the house (after lots of "You're WHERE?!" and "How in the world did you get out there!" But Brad himself made a couple of wrong turns and I had to direct him to the N house. I'm not that familiar with the city either, I just know how to get to certain places.

We ate supper, which was very good (those "cookies" for dessert were scrum-diddly-unctious, made by Evelyn I'm told) and then headed out for the pool. Remember to ALWAYS wait at least 30 seconds after eating before going swimming. There's your safety tip for the day.

It was a blast, I had mobs of little kids (and some big kids) swarming all over me, torpedoing me etc. There were slides there and a diving board. There were a lot of people there at the public pool but it seemed to be all right, it wasn't as crowded as it could have been. I played with Susanna for a while (who just turned seven I believe) and goodness, Anna kept splashing me for NO APPARENT REASON (sheesh), and Laura and Abigail were like leeches. Some of the younger boys and myself had a slow motion fist fight and were getting knocked back with exaggerated motions. The two hours went by quickly and yet I knew I'd sleep well that night.

We shall see what this next day will bring. The Lord is good to all of us and we pray for his mercy when we go door-to-door. David apparently had a person who spoke with them for an hour. I think it was a wonderful opportunity, most of the people we talk to do not seem interested at all, but I trust the Lord will work what he will.

For His Kingdom,
Shadow