I've been working all week on the book of stories by the 2009 Sea Tribe Team, and it has been so cool to read about what He did in their lives and through their lives to impact the islands we visited. What an amazing time! One of my highlights included getting to know the INCREDIBLE high schools students that were on our team...seriously, I am so lucky:) Another highlight is told in the following story.
JC Loves the Little Sponges
While strolling through one of the islands, I came across a group of three or four year old boys who were shooting rubber bands up into the branches of a tree. Curious as to what they were shooting at, I ventured over to check it out, and to take some pictures. They all saw the camera and began posing for a photo, a.k.a. fighting to get the best headshot. We took some photos together, then decided it was time to play. The group started small as we began the counting game of Do-Mi-Ka-Do, but as word got out, kids were coming from every corner. The group grew to about 15 kids ranging from three years old to twelve, and all their eyes were on me. We all laughed hysterically as we sang “The Hokey Pokey,” sticking our elbows, noses and heads in and out and dancing around. We sang “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes”as fast as we could and as slow as we could. Sweaty, tired and out of games to play, I decided it was their turn to teach me something...then came the issue of the language barrier. I couldn’t understand a thing they were saying, and at one point they were all pointing at me and screaming something in Bahasa. After each of them took a turn trying to explain the game to me, I finally realized that they were trying to teach me Duck Duck Goose J By the end of our 20 minutes of play time, these sweet ones had a piece of my heart. I had hardly any language ability, and yet these kids listened to every word I said. At one point, I noticed a little girl holding my hand; no matter what game we were playing, she wanted to be right by my side. Interacting with kids has always come naturally to me, but in taking a step back to analyze the scene I was getting to play a role in, it occurred to me that these kids weren’t attracted to anything that I had to offer, but instead, were attracted to the source of joy inside me.
So often in our training for this trip we refer to the kids on the islands as possible distractions. We stress the importance of being ready with toys or games to take the kids out of the room during a deep conversation. This scenario is very common on the islands; Satan likes to use anything he can to distract or prevent deep connections with the islanders. Though, I learned during this trip to the islands, how important those kids are to the work that is being done. They are like little sponges, soaking up every word, and mimicking every action. For the remainder of the time on both islands I heard several kids humming, singing and teaching the songs that we had taught them. What a reason to be intentional about your actions and your words! Jesus knew how important the children were. When the disciples started to lead them away, thinking they were a distraction, Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Luke 18:16) I got to teach the song “I’ve Got Joy” to a group of kids on each island.
While strolling through one of the islands, I came across a group of three or four year old boys who were shooting rubber bands up into the branches of a tree. Curious as to what they were shooting at, I ventured over to check it out, and to take some pictures. They all saw the camera and began posing for a photo, a.k.a. fighting to get the best headshot. We took some photos together, then decided it was time to play. The group started small as we began the counting game of Do-Mi-Ka-Do, but as word got out, kids were coming from every corner. The group grew to about 15 kids ranging from three years old to twelve, and all their eyes were on me. We all laughed hysterically as we sang “The Hokey Pokey,” sticking our elbows, noses and heads in and out and dancing around. We sang “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes”as fast as we could and as slow as we could. Sweaty, tired and out of games to play, I decided it was their turn to teach me something...then came the issue of the language barrier. I couldn’t understand a thing they were saying, and at one point they were all pointing at me and screaming something in Bahasa. After each of them took a turn trying to explain the game to me, I finally realized that they were trying to teach me Duck Duck Goose J By the end of our 20 minutes of play time, these sweet ones had a piece of my heart. I had hardly any language ability, and yet these kids listened to every word I said. At one point, I noticed a little girl holding my hand; no matter what game we were playing, she wanted to be right by my side. Interacting with kids has always come naturally to me, but in taking a step back to analyze the scene I was getting to play a role in, it occurred to me that these kids weren’t attracted to anything that I had to offer, but instead, were attracted to the source of joy inside me.
So often in our training for this trip we refer to the kids on the islands as possible distractions. We stress the importance of being ready with toys or games to take the kids out of the room during a deep conversation. This scenario is very common on the islands; Satan likes to use anything he can to distract or prevent deep connections with the islanders. Though, I learned during this trip to the islands, how important those kids are to the work that is being done. They are like little sponges, soaking up every word, and mimicking every action. For the remainder of the time on both islands I heard several kids humming, singing and teaching the songs that we had taught them. What a reason to be intentional about your actions and your words! Jesus knew how important the children were. When the disciples started to lead them away, thinking they were a distraction, Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Luke 18:16) I got to teach the song “I’ve Got Joy” to a group of kids on each island.
I’ve got joy down in my heart
deep deep down in my heart.
J-O-Y down in my heart,
Deep deep down in my heart.
He gave it to me
and no one can destroy it.
I’ve got joy down in my heart
deep deep down in my heart
As we sang the words to that song, I couldn’t help imagine what an island would look like if these little sponges were overflowing with the joy of Christ.
These are the little rubber band shooters. Turns out they were shooting at cicaks (geckos) up in the tree. I fell in love with the one making the fish face...he would come to my house every morning ready to play or put on a WWF show in the front yard. On the last morning, I gave whole bag of rubber bands that we had brought with us.
After the games, the girls came over to our house where we decided we would play with the fingernail decals. The boys soon found out, got jealous and wanted shiny heart stickers on their nails too. By the end of our time together all the kids were calling me Kak, which means older sister.
This is just one of the many stories. Can't wait to tell you more.
Thank you to all who were lifting up our team while we were away!
