Part Three

And so, English camp began with a bang today, with us doing a session in the morning and the afternoon apiece. In the morning, I lead teach a class of 30 plus third graders. In the afternoon, I assistant teach a class of 15 or so fifth graders. Let's start at the beginning, (a very good place to start.)

It didn't feel like God stretched me this morning, the feeling was more akin to Him ripping my arms out of their sockets. As stated above, my class had 30 plus kids in it. 30. Plus. That is absolutely huge, when you consider the fact that I can barely communicate with them! I definitely felt like I did/was doing nothing right at all, that I was a miserable failure, and that I should never have come. I forgot steps in the lesson, I couldn't get some of the kids to interact with the stuff, we had logistic problems coming out of our ears, etc. I had to let my brother Michael usher the kids to rec while I just sat by the fish pond, choking back tears that I knew I could not shed in public. I really can't remember what it was God told me, but it was along the lines of comfort and encouragement. He gave me strength to go into the afternoon, where things were better.

Assisting was so much easier than leading. I was blessed enough to paired with Bro. Matt, our Direct of Evangelism and Missions for the association. He's been somewhat of a ministry mentor to me and supervised me last summer as I interned with the association. Needless to say, he means a lot to me. I learned a lot of things from him today, both things to do, and things not to do. Beyond that, the afternoon allowed me to slip into VBS mode. I was able to laugh and have fun with the kids. God used this to pump a little bit more fuel into my tank, and now I'm hopeful about tomorrow.

Hope. The missionaries here refer to their ministry as "Hope for a Hakka Harvest," and dream of the day when church planting movements will sweep the Hakka communities all over the globe, a day when the Hakka will become the largest missionary force ever seen on this Earth. Will it happen? I don't think that it's my place to say it will or won't? But can it happen? :) With God all things are possible, and we can have hope (even faith) that He will continue to call this lost world to Himself in ways that will blow our minds.
Thanks for your prayers. Please keep 'em up, for we do not remain in step with the Spirit, we will surely die in our morning commute. Seriously. Four words: no traffic laws enforced.

Love to all of the Family.