Finals Week

The rush and the whirl of VBS week at a church can really tax energy on those running it, namely the pastor. The pastor I am working with this summer actually referred to VBS week as his finals week. There is all this preparation leading up to it, but once you're in it, you just do it. And even though you may not be doing much in the moment, much is getting done.

This also happens to be my last week here in Brooklyn. I am feeling a lot of rush and whirl. A lot of what I've been working at all summer is coming to this week with all the kids being around for this great week-long evening event. So for me it is really cool to see all of the hard work Pastor and I and others have put in be put to practical use.

We have a service group in from Owatonna, Minnesota this week. They are a wonderful group of 14 teenagers and 4 adults. Everyone of them has a great attitude and is a hard worker. That much is appreciated and certainly goes a long way in doing jobs for a relatively poor church. And to serve in the name of Jesus is also something awesome to see. During the day they work and sweat their butts off in the projects and at night they have been helping us out with VBS. Tonight, however, they went sight seeing in Manhattan and that left VBS being a purely St. Johns night.

Registration for VBS is a lot different in the city than it is in the suburbs. For one there is no fee and there is no strict registration deadline. The kids come through the door and the register at will. We worked up to 30 kids strong tonight, and every one of them wanted to be there. What was neat for me personally was seeing how much the youth of the neighborhood came out of their shells once the Minnesota teenagers weren't around. The first two days they seemed really reserved, especially Monday. But today they read, and they shared in the question answering. These kids know their stuff and it was a joy for me to spend that time with them.

At the end of the night we went around the Baptismal font as we have the past two nights for a teaching point by Pastor Priest. He spoke once more about baptism and a young man about 7th grade age stated firmly, "I'm going to get baptized." He said it in such a voice that most 7th graders would use when talking about getting a new video game. There was a firm and confident sound to his voice when he said it. It was matter of fact to him, he had not yet been baptized, but he made it clear in a distinct voice that he wanted to be.

It's things like that that capture your attention at the end of another long and hot day and make you realize why you keep coming back. Oh, did I mention todays Bible story lesson was on Jesus planting seeds? And that those seeds represent the faith planted in people?

Whoever has ears let him hear indeed.