While I was out...

I did not have a chance to post a scripture translation or notes last week because I spent most of the week out of town. The last part of the week, I attended a mission event especially designed for children. It was fabulous.

For two days we spent our time in worship, reflection and of course, mission. There were over 200 people involved, mostly children and a handful of adults (read: drivers). The children participated in a myriad of mission projects (which is totally true. The adults simply drove, the kids truly did all the work!). Some went to a nursing home where they painted a mural on the wall. Others went to a soup kitchen, visited shut-ins, did yard work, cleaned up a local YMCA camp, helped out at a firehouse, served at soup kitchens, packed up items for a thrift store, helped organize things at the Ronald McDonald house and much, much more.

A group of children that I was involved with went to a local soup kitchen that was run out of the basement of a Baptist church. Here, people from all over the city come daily for a hot lunch. They serve strictly between the hours of 12:00 noon and 12:30pm. We had more kids than we did jobs, so we encouraged the children to be relational by asking folks if they could carry their plates and drinks to the tables as they came through the line. You would not believe the looks of disbelief on the faces of grown men and women (many of which had not seen a hot shower in a few days and looked a little grubby from outdoor labor) as a child asked "Do you mind if I carry your plate for you?" It was clear that many of them are not on the receiving end of this kind of service. Many were a little uncomfortable with it. In fact, some refused to be served.

After we spent some time serving lunch and cleaning up, the social worker involved with this ministry came to talk with us. She pointed out to us that there were not many children receiving lunch today. She told us this was because the children in the neighborhood go to summer school. They love school--not primarily because all the things they learn there, but because they get breakfast and lunch every day. This was hard for our children to understand, especially since most of them don't look forward to summer school at all. It really drove home for them that many kids go to bed hungry every night.

During our reflection time, we asked the kids where they saw Jesus in their mission projects. One child told us she saw Jesus in a worker at the thrift store. The worker told her that she woke up that morning feeling overwhelmed by the amount of stuff she had to do at the store that day. She prayed that God might help her complete all her tasks. She was not expecting the children at the store that day, so when they arrived with helping hands, she was caught by surprise. She told this child about her prayer, and that the kids were clearly the answer. Even a child can be an instrument of God. No. Especially a child can be an instrument of God.

So, last week I didn't translate any scripture and I didn't offer any remarks about it. Instead, I tried to live a little piece of it, and it was fantastic.