Monday Ministry

We had a pleasant surprise when we met up with our host pastor this morning. We had planned on doing street programs as we had done every other day, however he told us we had the opportunity to go to a local High School. Though some people in government were saying no Christian groups were allowed into the schools, this principal opened the doors to us.

When we arrived at the public school we found the kids on their "recess" (about a 45 minute break between classes). They were all out in the common area outside and several were playing volleyball. After watching for a few minutes we asked if we could play and they were excited to accommodate.

We played volleyball with them for quite some time (they have different rules - ie: no 3 hit limit) after which the English teacher asked if we could play basketball with some of their guys. We were happy to accommodate. The sports interaction helped to build a relational bridge with the students and was of course fun at the same time.

Our team divided into three groups and went into three separate rooms. This allowed for a little closer interaction and dialogue with the students. We talked about life in the US and allowed them to ask questions. They wanted to know what snow felt like. They were also interested to know what we did at school if we weren't allowed a "recess" between our classes as they have.

We found that our cultures are quite the same. We all like sports and music. Some like school and some don't. Most of us use our phones for texting, and just like us, they get in trouble for texting in school too.

Another similarity in our cultures is that teenagers must make choices every day. These choices affect us and the people around us. As we talked about these choices we told the kids that the most important choice we will make in our life is if we will follow Jesus Christ. It is not about what church they go to, but if they have made Jesus the Lord of their life. We told them that every one of us had already chosen to follow Christ with our lives and invited them to do the same. In almost every classroom when we asked for a show of hands of those who wanted to follow Christ we had a strong response.

The pastor was very pleased with the progress and connections our team made. The English teacher said of all the groups he's had come into his class over the years, he felt ours was the best.

Total, we were in front of 8 different classes. We played volleyball, basketball, boys "soccer" and girls "soccer."

After lasagna for supper most of the team joined at the pool for some fun games and our ever popular synchronized diving.

We look forward to having a strong last day of ministry on Tuesday.