Saturday night… had a great service in a
packed church… ended at 11:15 PM. One teenage girl came for salvation
plus 5 little boys from 6 to 11 years old. Flat tire, (same one) no
repair places open at midnight Saturday… had to put on the spare. Got
nice and dirty. My off-white pants were more “off” than “white” when I
got through J. Made it to my next hotel in Metan City (1 1/4
hour trip) arrived at 2 AM. I answered a few emails, and at exactly 3 AM
slipped under the sheet and was out like a light in two seconds.
Meagan, a dear friend… both a mom and a
wife that loves her kids and her husband, wrote me to tell me to “quit
answering their mail in the middle of the night and to get to bed earlier and
get some sleep.” Fear not, Meagan… I got a good four hours sleep from 3
AM till 7 AM and was at the church Sunday and ready to go at 9 AM. (But I
believe in the “sacred siesta” and took a 1 ½ hour nap Sunday afternoon before
my Sunday night service.)
Five churches of four different
denominations had brought their Sunday Schools together in one place. It
was holy havoc! There were just enough little tots and misbehavers to
distract everyone else’s attention. They ran around, tripping over each
other being chased by their “big brother or sister” who were maybe only two
years older. I am guessing that we had 200 kids or more, but it was
impossible to count… and hard to keep their attention for much more than 10
seconds.
They enjoyed Perfume. She got
petted gently, slapped in the face and her tail pulled. They did pretty
well listening to Felipe and then even did better singing “I have decided to
follow Jesus”. (Notice the kid lying on the floor at my feet J.)
And they did remarkably well memorizing
the text John 8:12 while I had a line of adults holding cards with portions of
that scripture… and then turning them over one by one while we all repeated the
verse. Several little kids came up and quoted it perfectly afterward.
So far so good. But the minute I
tried to talk to the group I lost them. Probably 90% were trying to
listen, but there were too many loud happy conversations and small fights going
on to allow anyone to concentrate. I was sweating like a turkey in the
oven, not from heat, but from just plain hard work! I did my best, but
closed out with only a small portion of my message originally intended for
them. You know when you have been whipped! We sang again and I
prayed with them.
Was anything accomplished worthy of
mention? I don’t know. I believe some kids may still be able to
quote John 8:12 for years to come. John 8:12 tells us what happens if we
follow Jesus. Jesus lets us know that He is the Light of the World.
And if you follow Him you will not walk in darkness, but have the light of
life. “I have decided to follow Jesus the Light of the World” was
my theme for the morning.
I have to believe that God is at work
even in the middle of holy havoc. Who knows? In that moving
sea of 200 or more kids maybe a few got the message. I prayed that every one of
them and their parents would follow Jesus. Maybe the Lord will surprise
me and sweep this holy havoc right into His glorious heaven.
Ralph
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