Day 7

God spoke to us this morning from Matthew 20:17-29. In the passage, Jesus speaks of serving, as he "gave his life as a ransom for many" and that those who want to become great should serve. The passage goes against the worldly standards of being "great," and urges us to be humbled by what Jesus has done for us. Although we were all feeling pretty inadequate after our first day of vbs here, God reminded us that with our dependence on him, we are all the more equipped to do his work here. I am so thankful to have met Pastor Ahn and his family. God has been showing us a new perspective through Pastor Ahn's family; they bless others with their service, food, and hospitality even when they don't have enough for themselves. They challenge us to serve even the children who are difficult to love through their kingdom perspective and their hearts.

After some changes in yesterday's vbs schedule, the newly scheduled events went more smoothly. First of all, we all took more initiative to make the program flow better even though for some of us, it took more courage to explain and facilitate in Korean. Second of all, we have been getting to know the kids at a personal level, which is very helpful in teaching and leading them. Pastor Ahn has also been filling us in on the history of the kids.

We performed a skit and sang praise songs to help the children better understand the theme for the day, which was to "help others." For some of the kids, it was difficult to explain the theme for the day because they did not understand the meaning of helping others due to their surroundings and their upbringing. Our prayer and hope is that although many of these kids may not be able to help others now, that their lives would be changed by Christ.

The rest of the day went well. We had crafts, snacks, and games. Even though we've just ended day 2, we've grown so attached to the kids here that it will be hard to leave them. God is really working here and we couldn't do it without your prayers and support!

Esther

Prayer Requests:

Our hearts- Please pray that our hearts would grow for the kids here, even those who are difficult to love. We want to embrace them but also teach them discipline.

Townspeople- The people here have been opening their hearts to the church here. Please pray that even when we leave, this would continue.