I love
sunsets. I think they are one of the most beautiful creations of God, and it
seems as though they themselves are filled with happiness and hope. On Thursday
afternoon, we had our after school club at Brentnall Primary School. This is, I
think, one of our toughest ministries—the kids are always hard to keep under
control. This past Thursday, however, was probably the worst after school club
yet. The kids were absolutely terrible! Back home, every class has the “class
clown,” but here, it seems like all of them are fighting for that title. They
also don’t know when to stop—they just keep going, making inappropriate jokes
and acting up no matter how many times we tell them to stop. It’s so
frustrating for us because our purpose is to go there and show them God’s love
in the way we treat them, or in any way we communicate with them, really…and it’s
so hard! We’ve had to make up stricter rules, and we even had to ask one kid
not to come back next week. We really do have a lot of fun teaching the lesson,
but it’s such a struggle for us sometimes to love them the way that God does
and to see them through His eyes. As we were walking home afterwards at about
4:45, the sun had almost set and the sunset was absolutely breathtaking. I felt
so renewed as I was walking and praying—it was like God was showing me, through
his beauty, that there is hope for these kids, that His love for them is ever
present, and that He will continue to teach us how to love like He does.
On another
note, 5 of us went to London on Friday and came back last night and had a
brilliant time! Pictures are below 🙂
Westminster Abbey
Katie and me outside of Buckingham Palace 🙂
View from the London Eye!
Hil…I am praying for you and your after school programs…sounds like the ones we do here in the housing projects…yikes…I understand! They may be surprised if you do something completely different…I don’t know what you normally do…but something completely out of the norm would make them stop for a second and listen or pay attention…pray for creativity and for God to use you even though you feel like you’re getting no where with them! You are!!! I love you pictures from London! It makes me sooo excited to be there!!!!! 4 months! yay!
Dear Hilary,
I hope that there are at least two of you assigned to each group, preferably more. You may be doing it already, but it would be good for one of you to continually walk around the room praying that disruptive spirits be bound and the Holy Spirit bring peace and love into that room, giving you wisdom as to how to reach these children and to respond to their disorderliness. You may want to take turns doing this throughout the session and, of course, do it before the children enter the room(s). We used to pray before the children arrived for 6th grade Sunday School and it does make a difference. We didn’t have to do it during but would have if we needed to.
Blessings,
Mrs. Ann