And the Kids Came: Touching Hearts, Changing Lives

[Diplomat]

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


She couldn't get enough of the camera...


The boys were not as camera crazy as the girls were...


Never without a smile...


"Miss Thing"...as cool as cucumber.

[Diplomat]

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





Last year the lunch crew gave them box juices and they didn't care too much for it. They wanted bag juice ~ I guess because it is partly frozen it lasts longer. This year the lunch volunteers didn't make the same "mistake." (As a team we only provide the money for lunch for the week; it is up to the local pastor and the lunch volunteers to decide what's for lunch daily.)

[Diplomat]

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

How did we get over a hundred kids to sit steady for lunch? That is due in large part to the remarkable discipline of some of the kids. For the ones that were not so disciplined. the lunch volunteers simply told them anyone not seated would not be served. It worked like a charm. Serving lunch was an impressive display of coordination and efficiency; we just sat and watched. Kudos to those workers on a job well done.




Moving through the crowd...




Well behaved - for the moment. And to think, no one was watching over them at the time.

[SandiF]

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

CDude - very sorry to hear about your mom. How is she doing now?

Beautiful endeavour from your church group, CDude. How can we know more about this? Is this an ongoing plan? The pictures of the children are lovely and as you said once as hope is given and path towards the right direction, they will excel.

[Diplomat]

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

Daytime was exciting but we all looked forward to the night services. We would leave for the hotel right after VBS and for the team leads it wasn't a downtime because they were usually busy getting the next days activities organized. Thankfully, we had made some arrangements with a local caterer - who was a member at one of the sister churches - and so I would phone in our orders and it would arrive at 4:00. The price was great as were the meals. We would do a quick review of the day while eating and by 5:30 we would be leaving for church at 6:00 for women's only meeting (led by women for women) and new believers class. These mission trips are a lot of work but everybody was loving it.

On this particular night, service again was awesome. Last year Tryone and a sister from his church did a number called Drinking From My Saucer - the first time I was hearing the song and I loved it. So on the first night I asked him if they were going to do the song again, he said he would try to get the other half of the duet; he didn't disappoint. A couple of nights later, they did it.

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They were followed by a beautiful rendition of &quot;As the Deer&quot;

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Team member and one of our worship leaders (with Tyrone providing backup)

<span style="font-style: italic">As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after Thee
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship Thee

You alone are my strength my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship Thee</span>

[Diplomat]

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

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SandiF</div><div class="ubbcode-body">CDude - very sorry to hear about your mom. How is she doing now?

Beautiful endeavour from your church group, CDude. How can we know more about this? Is this an ongoing plan? The pictures of the children are lovely and as you said once as hope is given and path towards the right direction, they will excel. </div></div>
Hi Sandi; thanks for dropping by and your interest in my mom and VBS. Regarding my mom, for the first time since January we are breathing easier. After being in and out of the hospital several times and a couple of near misses as a result of blood clots in her leg and lungs, my mom is now holding her own. From being totally paralyzed on one side, she has movements where previously there was none. She is able to stand, though she has to hold on to her walker, and her range of motion is coming along as a result of physio. A lot of prayers continue to go up on her behalf and we are believing God for a full recovery.

As for the mission trip, this is our fourth year (second for the VBS) and for the sake of the kids I anticipate we will be doing VBS for a while yet. The biggest challenge is always fund raising for all the things we want to do for and on behalf of the kids, so we are hoping to get that started as soon as possible for 2011. If you need more information on VBS or the mission in general, you can let me know.

Thanks again for the interest; much appreciated.

[Stormmey]

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

CD something about this little guy has piqued my interest the eyes look like they have a story to tell.

[Diplomat]

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

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Stormmey1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">CD something about this little guy has piqued my interest the eyes look like they have a story to tell. </div></div>
The &quot;little guy&quot; happens to be the pastor's son - and last child - so you'd better watch the heart throbs He's a budding drummer, is quite active but very quiet, more like his mom's disposition. I don't recall the activity we were engaged in when I took the picture but a good number of them were candid shots and obviously, he was giving whatever it was his undivided attention. His focus may have been what caught my attention..

[Diplomat]

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

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

So far, so good. Well, as far as VBS, the services, and other ministry meetings were concerned, things were going very well. The team was pumped and everyone was having a blast. Our only concern was that the barrels we had shipped over a month ago had not yet been delivered. We were making do with materials for the classes but in those barrels were the school supplies, clothing, and everything else for the gift bags we were to give out on day four. We were advised that the barrels had arrived almost two weeks ago but were being held up because of &quot;paper work.&quot; We were working the phones between Jamaica and Toronto - we were confident things would work out but this was cutting it really close. In the meantime, 132 kids came through the door on this day and like the two days prior, we were ready for them.

One of the things we had spoken about during our group devotion that morning was how much it seemed some of the kids craved personal contact. They would come up and hug us around our necks and there was always a group around us guys. Most of them were from single parent homes and it was obvious that they didn't have a father figure they could relate to. They were beautiful kids and we felt like we could take them all back to Toronto with us. For now all we could do was just love them and let them know how much we did. So we indulged them climbing all over us before classes got started, while keeping an eye on the ones that showed flashes of jealousy because other kids were around &quot;their&quot; uncle or auntie. Yes, that's how they referred to us. To them, we were family.


Still working on their moves before classes started.


&quot;Mek mi seet! Mi wan' si di pitcha dem!&quot;




Mr. Cool; he wore his shades every day.

[Diplomat]

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


Lesson time, done with the group as a whole before they broke off into their different teams.


Junior diva...


Focused...


Friends...

[Diplomat]

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


Great kid. Loved the hair...


A study in concentration...


Teen helper working with the over six and under ten group.


Future doctor or lawyer, maybe? He has that look...

[Diplomat]

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


Working with the kids and doing whatever was necessary...


He had to find his way through the maze just by listening to her voice; he couldn't look.
The lesson of the day - trusting God was like that; all about following His voice when we can't see the way.


The boys really took to her. By this time her patois vocabulary was rather impressive.


Another teen helper. She was no longer with this local church but came back to help with VBS.

[Diplomat]

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

Many individuals have written songs expressing their love for Jesus. Of course, we all experience that differently but I've never heard of one where He was loved better than an ice-cream bar or that His love is better than ice-cream. On this day, we did.

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These kids could make going off the class quite the production.
On this day, this is what it looked like as team Giza (6 and under) got ready to leave the main group.
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[Compry]

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

Uhmm...ChurchDude, anything else to add?

[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">Uhmm...ChurchDude, anything else to add? </div></div>
Yeah, but didn't get around to it in the early hours of the morning. I slept through it