Heading
Top of the morning to yer or maybe it's evening there, St. Patty’s day was yesterday here, complete with corned beef hash and various green decor here at the Oasis. Perhaps you have no claim to Irish descent, just savour the sentiment and remember St. Patrick was the guy who evangelised Ireland. As a teen, possibly only 14 years old, he was enslaved, but during his six years in captivity his faith grew and after his release, he chose to go back and serve the people there.
Lia gave us the devotion on servanthood. In God’s kingdom, servants who live their lives for others and those who have the faith of small children are the ones who enter his kingdom.
The building projects continued and so did the VBS practice. This time the projector worked for about 15 minutes before it decided not to anymore. Please pray that the technology will work when it really counts-- especially on VBS opening day with a room full of loud and expectant children.
A small group went to the construction sites to find local children and interact with them, playing games and chatting. Their school is over for now and the older ones are preparing for exams. Young Hannah had sewed some dresses to give away to the little girls here. In our group, even the youngest members are participating as able.
Last night was our first choir practice. The singing in church on Sunday, though vigorous is almost all unison, so Joven would like to introduce some harmony, so we are trying a choir again. At our first practice, we had Andy Seiler and Adina from our group and eight people from Yapak.
Aside from “normal” choral challenges like not enough male singers and no-one to accompany on the keyboard, throw in very little English comprehension, verbally or written and no musical training. I encountered a lot of blank stares -- and smiles. Whatever knowledge and experience I might bring is of very limited use. But what a great place to be, because then God will have to do the work of making this choir come together. Thankfully, by the end of the first session we made some progress on one of the songs. Prayers appreciated for tonight’s rehearsal.
Much of the ministry we’ll be doing here is with youth and children. Often, this is discounted as unimportant, but that is not the way God sees it. Serving others, even those who are deemed of less worth and stature, or those who haven’t had the opportunities we take for granted, is the very heart of our Saviour. May he give us hearts to love and serve the least of these, whoever they may be.
(main photo: Jody, Ceejay, Darrin)
