Today was full of surprises... in a great way. For the first time this week we had the P4-P7's or the 8-11 yr olds come in for Holiday Club, and we honestly just had a blast with them. I feel that as we have gotten to know Sandy Row a bit our hearts have been uncontrollably softened towards them. These kids are so full of energy and life and reagardless of the home life they have, there is unlimited enthusiasm to be tapped. We enjoyed crafts, games, football, and spantaneous adaptations of any games or ideas that crossed our minds. We had fun.
The afternoon greeted us with "Friendship Group". About 20 or more elderly ladies from the community of Sandy Row meet every wednesday for "tea" and we had the privilage of introducing ourselves, showing some pictures of Niagara and singing a few songs with them. Oh the songs... if you have ever led a group of people you do not know in a familiar hymn they DO know... you may have experienced the result. Travis' red face-- due to concealed laughter really said it all. Older ladies are not overlly accustommed to the rhythmic style a guitar brings to a song and before one line of Amazing Grace was over, we had arrived at different places. It became clear that they were going to lead the way in an meter not recognized by mankind. This was just fine, we loved it, and laughed a great deal afterward. Tea and discussions about their life during the "blitz" in Ireland was interesting and we enjoyed our time with them.
The evening brought around another round of Youth Alpha, which after the previous night, had our expectations adjusted accordingly. We decided to do a team challenge night. We had several challenges planned, and only half of them were really attempted. The success of the evening however was that, as we provided other game options, opportunities to chat with some of the kids opened up and we had a great night altogether. These children are defintitely intense, as are the situations from which they come, and you honestly can't help but love them.
Hey Guys,
ReplyDeleteYou're doing such a great job with writing the blog! We all feel like we're part of the ministry there and can picture everything as you describe it! May God see you through to the end of this busy week at Friendship House. We're trusting Him to great things in and through the team. Say Hi to Jenny, Harry, Natalie and Robert and all the others! God bless.