Day 6 - Wednesday

VBS

“I now realize that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.” Acts 10: 34.

I got to teach the 1^st grade today. It wasn’t planned. Ms. Rachael went down with a severe sore throat (we hope not strep). Everyone had to flex due to her absence and the VBS crew came up big today. Our team showed incredible flexibility and unity today as many had to shift from what they had planned to what was most needed at the time. It is not easy losing a teacher in this setting. Besides being missed by the children, the whole staff feels the loss of a veteran disciplinarian.

These kids are crazy. They are good kids, but their age and language diversity makes keeping order nearly impossible. Take Ms. Rachael’s class today: every child is bilingual, but the problem is that English in not necessarily one of them. For instance, Kevin speaks fluent Russian and is good friends with Sayad whose grandparents are an Indian couple I met at church on Sunday. I don’t know what Kevin and Sayad speak to each other most of the time. When they can’t translate what they want to say to each other in English, I seriously think they are speaking in some kind of Indian-Russian-English language that they make up.

We also have Spanish speakers, languages from Eastern Europe and of course two dialects of Chinese: Cantonese and Mandarin. I learned that some of the Cantonese speakers can understand a bit of Mandarin but many of the Mandarin speakers do not yet understand Cantonese. This makes it impossible to do class in any kind of traditional way. Whenever you ask your class a question in English, the better English speakers begin to translate into Cantonese which in turn in translated into Mandarin which in turn is translated back to Cantonese and full round back to English. There is a lot of talking and it is very difficult to tell what discussions are on task and which are off task. Mostly things go off task very quickly.

Our team has become adept at getting kids back on track. One of the signals the team has been using very affectively is “Clap once if you hear me. Clap twice if you understand me; Clap three times if you are quiet”. Another great commotion stopper I’ve seen is “the quiet game”. You say, “We are going to play the quiet game, 1, 2, 3 go”. The kids then all zip their lips to try to outlast their classmates. They are competitive! If someone talks, they are out and the game continues until the last person speaks.

It is a privilege to work with these kids. They are so eager to learn. They are so adorable and so appreciative. They are also so incredibly receptive to the gospel. They really look forward to the skits prepared by the acting team each day and the Bible story skits that they get to participate in. The children are incredibly enthusiastic worshippers and love the crafts, games, and snack/Bible memory. I always thought that missions meant going overseas, but the mission field has come to us—right in our own cities. Acts 17:26, “From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth, and He determined the times set for them and the exact places that they should live. God did this so men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him.”

-Jeff.

Construction

The construction crew got a ton done today. In the basement we finished laying the flooring, and it looks great. We now have to work on all of the details like installing the trim, coloring in and touching up blemishes on the floor, clean up, and moving the stuff back in. The details seem to take longer than you expect! The basement seems to be more comfortable with the brand new flooring.

The crew upstairs looked like they were putting a huge effort in. The upstairs area is not air conditioned, and the temperature steadily seemed to get hotter throughout the day. They worked on staining, painting, mudding, and prepping for finishing the dry wall. The expanded room upstairs will enable the church to keep the groups together after meetings for more fellowship.

The Vroom Free Church truly appreciates our help. I know there is a great need for additional help not only in Brooklyn, and Jersey City but in many urban areas. We have received a warm and gracious welcome from the church, and words of thanks and encouragement from the church members we have met with. They are truly changing their community, and connecting with ethnic groups in ways that I could have only imagined. It is exciting to see them changing the world.

Some of the church ladies served us a wonderful “soul food” dinner in the basement. With all of the energy we burned up during the day we all ate more food than normal, beside it was delicious! The VBS crew has no idea what they missed, so we aren’t telling them about it.

The mission trip has been a wonderful experience. We are having an impact on the communities, and building relationships within our own church.

Keep praying for us, thank you for your support.

-Brian