And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives

[Diplomat]

Re: And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives

As mentioned earlier, the VBS theme centered on Joseph in Egypt so most of the activities, in what we called the market place (the classes), had an Egyptian element.


Hard at work. The challenge was to use the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic alphabet to write a note or letter to someone.


Trying to figure it all out...


Auntie M and some Team Sais (age 10 and older) members.


Junior and his buddy...

[Diplomat]

Re: And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives


Working together to get it done.


Doing whatever it takes...


Working on another Egyptian piece for Team Rosetta (over 6 and under 10).


Some of Team Rosetta in their market place.

[Diplomat]

Re: And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives


Team Rosetta - all done so they had to pose for the camera.


It was the perfect shot. After taking some of the others, I turned around and there it was.


Some from Team Giza, the 6 and unders - proud of their work.


The team leader for this group was a very spry and youthful 76 year old grandmother.
Wonderful, wonderful lady who has been on all the mission trips to date.

[Diplomat]

Re: And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives


One of the many cuties...


I asked him to smile and that was what I got...


I asked him to but he was too eager to turn his paper around...

Of course, we had to celebrate the kids who had birthdays in July, so after singing "Happy Birthday" to the group, each person got to take their picture befitting a birthday celebrant. It sure seemed like we thought of everything, doesn't it?

[Diplomat]

Re: And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives

By now the "talent show" had become one my favorite parts of VBS and it was a joy to watch the brave ones come up on the day and gave it their all. Today was no different as this unedited clip shows.

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Towards the end of the first song, God is Good, the little girl on the right got my attention with the enthusiastic effort she put into the actions. In the second song, Jesus Loves Me, the little guy was high and I didn't think he could hold his notes but he did an awesome job.

And so we closed out another day of VBS. Tomorrow was the last day and despite our efforts on the phones, there was still no word on the barrels.

[Compry]

Re: And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ChurchDude</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Tomorrow was the last day and despite our efforts on the phones, there was still no word on the barrels. </div></div>

Did you get the barrels on time?

[Diplomat]

Re: And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Compray</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Did you get the barrels on time? </div></div>
You're just gonna have to wait to find out

[Hush Darlin]

Re: And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives

Mi late mi jus fine dis reoirt dis mawnin and mi cudden read it caa mi did haffi rush out to work
but its betta to be late dan neva
CEW I always look forward to your reports and they never dissapoint
They are refreshing and I do enjoy them.
Blessing on the good job that you are doing
Waiting with bated breath for the rest
and no mi noh tan like Compray mi wi wait patiently fe fine out bout de barrel

[trelawnysmall]

Re: And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ChurchDude</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
One of the amazing things about looking at the clouds and gazing in awe at God's work is the fact that what we see is simply a portion of his backyard. That realization is what really awes me because it not only speaks of majesty but shows how big He really is. </div></div>

I am overjoyed or as some might say fulljoyed by the energy that obviously stems from pure love that you and your church members are giving. You are a selfless group, guided by Your Father.

I see it everyday, here in Jamaica, the need for children to feel loved and coming from the source, GOD through you, it's more then appreciated or as some may say, appreciloved.

You're a wonderful soul and God will continue to bless you, your Mother and family. You walk the walk and talk the talk. An abundance of blessings to your group.
Thanks for making a difference.

[Diplomat]

Re: And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives

<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="color: #000099">SweetSsop</span></span>: Yes, 'betta late dan neva' Good to see you and thanks for tagging along.

[Diplomat]

Re: And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives

<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="color: #000099">TSmall</span></span>: Thank you so much for taking the time to drop in and for the graciousness of your words. We think of ourselves as a group of &quot;cracked pots&quot; (from the book &quot;God Uses Cracked Pots&quot intent on allowing the love of Christ to shine through those cracks, and if we can have a positive impact on at least one child, the individual sacrifices would be well worth it. We love these kids bad-bad and continue to pray for them even as we start planning for our 2011 adventure.

[Diplomat]

Re: And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives

It was now Wednesday night and the nightly meetings were going extremely well. It seemed we had the kids in the days and their parents at nights but it was all good. On this night there was a spirit of praise going and these wonderful people sang and sang as if there would be no tomorrow. And could they dance! At one point I looked at the clock and it was 9:00 p.m. and we were still singing and praising. I loved every minute of it; the reckless abandon with which they worshiped was something we craved, not because we didn't worship in our home church but this was different. Back home everything was like an oiled machine, going according to schedule with an eye on the time, but here they didn't pay attention to the clock. Service finished whenever it finished; right now every problem was forgotten, every sickness had to lay low - this was God's people praising and worshiping and nothing was going to stop them.

The clips below were taken during what seemed like 20-30 minutes of non-stop singing, clapping, dancing, and whatever else. It was really cool seeing them leave their seats to come dance in the aisle and up front, grabbing anyone who was willing as a dance partner. It was awesome! As I took the video camera, it occurred to me that these people could wear me out - easily. The rest of the team was hanging on admirably.

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Every year there is one song that the team fall in love with and the pastor would make sure they sing it every night and at the close of every service. This year it was &quot;A Nuh One Praya Mi Pray,&quot; and Lord, we loved it!

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They gave us the words and we took it back to our church. We had the Patois and English versions on the screen. It was a riot!

<span style="color: #000099"><span style="font-weight: bold">Chorus:</span>
A na One Praya Mi Pray,
Mi pray ina night and we pray ina day
And every time mi go pon mi knee
Devil afi run way
A na One Praya Mi Pray,
Mi pray ina night and we pray ina day
And every time mi go pon mi knee
Demons hafi run way

<span style="font-weight: bold">Verse 1:</span>
When di devil a come (when di devil a come)
Sai me na go run (sai me na go run)
Cause I’m covered by di blood (the blood of Jesus)
Of the Almighty
And when di heden appear (when di heden appear)
Sai we have no fear (sai we have no fear)
‘Cause we daddy is here
‘Im have a standad you can bear (He’s my daddy-o)</span>

If you need the rest of it, let me know.

[Diplomat]

Re: And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives

Oh yeah, did I mention the spirit of praise during the service? Well, we found out later that the barrels were delivered while service was going on! Can you say miracle??? We were relieved because with the delivery the kids would get their gift bags! A couple of the brothers would take them to the hotel and after service we had the unenviable task of not only emptying them but putting all the gift bags together for the age appropriate groups and the helpers.

It was almost 11:00 p.m. when we got back to the hotel and by this time we were running on adrenalin. A quick change and we took to the task at hand. Thankfully, the owners had given us a banquet hall to use so we had more than enough space. Emptying the barrels packed with clothing, back to school supplies, toiletries, books, and so on, was a daunting task but we hung in there. Below are pictures of some of the unpacking and sorting in progress.







It was a few minutes to 2:00 a.m. when we packed what we hoped was the last gift bag. The team leaders had the names of all the kids in the respective teams and so we were able to pack the bags based on age, gender, and size. Quite a bit of the stuff we had to put back in the barrels and we would leave them with the host pastor for distribution at a later date. Every child got at least one t-shirt, school supplies, toothpaste, toothbrush, hand cream/soap, other age appropriate clothing, crayons. Older kids also received geometry sets, folder paper, books, pens, pencils, among other things.

By this time I was too tired for any more pictures and we were literally dragging ourselves up the stairs on whatever adrenalin we had left. It was tiring but we were satisfied. We couldn't wait to see the look on their faces when they saw the bags!

[Diplomat]

Re: And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives

Obviously, I didn't take this picture as in the background is me and &quot;my shadow&quot; who is reaching up so she can stay in her usual spot - in my arms.

[Diplomat]

Re: And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives

<span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">Thursday...</span></span>

At group devotion and over breakfast we were all rejuvenated. Maybe the good Lord knew we needed a restful sleep and He gave it to us because there really was no other viable explanation. We had started to experience the first pang of regret because today was the last day with the kids. As if by silent agreement, nobody wanted to talk about it as if by doing so we could put off the inevitable. Maybe we couldn't, but for the next few hours we had time with them and that was all we could ask for. So after several trips piling bags into our transport vehicle, we headed out - lost in our thoughts.

They were there in numbers! They didn't know 9:00 a.m. so when we got there at 8:30, there were a good number of them waiting. They knew it was the last day and some of them were not too happy about it. Others were already asking about next year. How could we not, even if team members would be different or this team returned with more newbies? They had become a part of us as much as we had become a part of them.

To keep them engaged while we got things together, the theme song always worked so I had this group going through the actions.