It has been a right good week in Bromley, England. It’s hard to believe that our last full day of ministry is tomorrow. Today we were back at Hayes Lane for day 2 of Messy Monkeys, a kids camp for children from ages 5-12. We have had about 40 children attending the camp each day with about half of those being from unchurched families.
As the children come in, they have about 15-20 minutes to choose an activity like biscuit icing (decorating a cookie with icing and sprinkles), construction (using cereal boxes, paper towel rolls, cups, etc to build some strange and exotic items – Marty has manned the construction table the last two days and built an impressive replica of the London Eye), and play dough. During the activity time, our job is to meet and talk to the children and their parents.
After the activity time, the children go outside for game time. Today we ran relays with the children in the garden (the back yard). After game time, we head indoors for snack, and a Bible story. Today, Johnny, one of the members of Hayes Lane, shared the story of Zacchaeus. Then it was back to our groups.
Since our theme is for the week is based on 1 Corinthians 3:10, all of the groups are named after famous buildings. My group is the Pyramids. So Marsha, Jen (one of our other Hayes Lane team members) and I met with Ben, Albert, Nathan, and Charlotte to decorate a tree, talk about the Bible story and work on our memory verse – Luke 19:10. By the time we finished up, it was time to go.
After the children left, we cleaned up and had a prayer time. At the prayer time, Marsha shared how she had seen one little boy raise his hand when Johnny had asked who would like to know Jesus. After the group time, she had a chance to share the gospel using a bracelet that Marty had given her before we left Rock Hill. After he left, he ran off and showed some of his friends the bracelet and started telling them what it meant. Pray from Callum and his friends as they hear the gospel, that they will will respond positively to the message.
After Messy Monkeys, we had lunch at the church. Then we changed into our orange football jerseys and got ready for our football camp. I’m not much of a footballer so I ended up working with the 6-8 year olds. I’m still in a little over my head. We spend the first hour and 15 minutes leading drills and playing games. Today’s focus was on dribbling. My group is led by Tim Sheehan. Tim is a certified football coach and does a great job working with the children. Dietmar and Tim Gardner also work with my group. After the drills and games, we have a Coaches Corner where we talk about the Bible. Today was my turn to share a little about myself, my story and why Jesus is important to me. The last hour of the camp is spent playing matches with each other. It’s called the World Cup and it’s the most important time of the camp to the kids. It gives them a chance for them actually play a match and score a goal. After the World Cup matches we hand out our Player of the Day awards. Then the kids head home.
After the football camp and supper, the guys had a chance to play some cricket with the guys from the church. Let’s just say I was lost like a ball in the tall grass when we started. I wasn’t exactly sure what we were doing. But I hit a few good balls, scored a couple of runs and didn’t complete make a fool out of myself. Garrett proved to be much more adept at the game and ended up scoring quite a few runs and making sure his team won. My biggest lesson was that baseball is a hard game to explain. As we were waiting on our turn to bat, I tried to explain some of the rules of baseball. I challenge anyone to try to explain completely how to play a basic game of baseball in a coherent way to someone who knows nothing about the game. Cricket was much easier to explain and play, I think.
While we were playing cricket, the ladies were getting ready for a Southern cooking party that was being held at Hayes Lane. We left before the tasting had begun but the menu included pecan pie, sweet potato casserole, and cheese grits. It looked like a number of women from both the church and community were showing up to taste the treats.
Marty, Garrett, and I headed back to the hotel a little early tonight. It was the first time that we have gotten back before 11:00pm since last Thursday. To say it has been a busy week would be an understatement. We have had plenty of opportunities to share the gospel as well as build bridges.
Til tomorrow!
Grace and Peace
Jamie
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