Summer School blog #3
We are sitting in Maccas on our way home after CMS Summer School 2010, reflecting on what has been another milestone week in our journey towards overseas mission work.
Last Friday, with some trepidation we prepared to take on a room full of over-tired, hormone-charged Year 11 and 12 kids. Doubtless they had no interest in listening to us - or so we thought.
To our surprise, we were greeted at the door with a friendly 'We've been looking forward to you coming!' The enthusiasm and energy in the room was palpable. The band was warming up on stage; the leaders were milling and chatting with the kids. There was plenty of laughter and anticipation for the final Summer School 2010 session, about to begin. The kids might have said it had a 'really good vibe'.but I don't know if they use that word any more.
It became quickly evident that the leaders of the Year 11-12 program had a more serious agenda than just entertaining these kids who were, from our perspective, their contemporaries - these guys were on about Jesus. They showed that being serious about Jesus, and about God's word, doesn't have to be boring. The session began well with a couple of songs played by musos with infectious enthusiasm and youthful energy. Then a genuinely warm welcome for us, the visiting missios! We were interviewed, and there were no dopey questions about our favourite foods or our most embarrassing experiences. Instead, we were asked, 'How did we come to be in relationship with Jesus?' and 'Why are we uprooting ourselves from our lives in Sydney to go onto the mission field?'
And here's the incredible thing: the students were genuinely interested in what we had to say. They even laughed at our lame 'one-liners'. We taught them a Swahili song and a few Swahili words, which is always dangerous when you've only learnt 10 words yourself and there are some ex-African missionary kids in the group - but even they were encouraging and forgiving of our mispronunciations.
If we were in any doubt that the future of Christ's church in Sydney is in good hands, the questions asked by the students completely allayed our concerns. This group of 16-18 year olds were articulate, thoughtful, godly, and mature young men and women. And there were about a hundred of them! Half a dozen of these kids led extemporaneous prayers for this group as well as any corporate prayer leaders in churches across Sydney.
Friends, we must continue to encourage these kids in their Christian 'safari' (Swahili for 'journey'). Just in case you think the Year 11-12 group leaders were the exception rather than the rule, the presentations from each of the children's groups at the end of Summer School 2010 demonstrated that right across the board, the programs were exceptional.
Parents have always loved Summer School for its Youth and Children's program - after all, they do take the kids off our hands for the week! But much more than that, the kids come back more informed and enthusiastic about Jesus and about living lives of radical discipleship. If we weren't going to be 20,000 km away, we would be booking our kids in now for Summer School 2011!
