DC Trip part 5

Last Day with the Kids -

On the last day there was water. Lots of clear, chlorinated water. And in the water was one pasty white pastor and a bunch of kids kicking and splashing and bobbing around in life jackets (along with a number of other adults). The kids love swimming! It was an indoor pool but that didn't seem to matter. No sand or beach, but that didn't seem to matter. The kids just loved to swim, and it was a lot of fun.

We also did crafts, storytelling, and music with the kids which went well.

We had our final meal, our closing session where we didn't get to officially say good-bye, and that was the end of our adventure in DC.

Today (Saturday) we are packing to get back on the train and go home. It has been a long week. I think it is to soon to try to sum up what the week was about or like. That and the fact that I am still a little groggy and foggy is keeping me from writing something brilliant and insightful about the week. For now, find comfort in the idea that it was a good week for our group and hopefully for the kids as well.

DC Trip part 4

Day 4 with the kids

This day was another "ordinary" day kids, meaning we didn't have any field trips. Overall it was a good day. We went to a different park - a much older one with fountains, statues, and tall, old trees offering a good amount of shade. No swings, no playground, but still a better park. Just as I saw at the bowling alley, I saw how these kids act much older than they really are until they have an opportunity to be a kid and act their own age. When it came to feeding ducks, or watching water flow, or climbing statues, they are little children all over again. It is almost as if they are forced to repress their age appropriate urges in order to survive.

While at the park I played a game of football. For those who know me, this is a big deal.


The afternoon was rotations of music, arts, and storytelling. From what I heard those all went well. The younger children love crafts and music. The older kids are done with those things, so they were invited to help cook and they jumped right in. They loved working in the kitchen, and helping. One of the really young kids, one who caused trouble multiple times asked if he could was the dishes. Again, it was an opportunity to see them act as kids.

In storytelling I tried over and over to share the different path that Jesus walked. I am shocked at how many of the kids did not know about the story of Jesus or make the connection that he could have resisted his crucification but didn't. They need to hear the story of Christ, but not just the story of his death and resurrection and what that means to them. They need to hear the whole story of the different way Jesus lived, the way of peace, love, and acceptance, because then the cross will have that much more power.

I think that is probably one of the biggest challenges to being a Christian overall - you are called to live a different way than the way the world calls you to live. For those of us in more comfortable environments it is not as obvious, but for those people living in urban, poor, and violent situations, the counter-cultural nature of Christ is a very real path that leads to a very real life of persecution. Yet as I was telling the 10-12 year old kids on this day, the path of Christ leads to life. The other path leads to a very real death. Still, it is not an easy choice to make.

Finally, some of us went to look at some more monuments. The WWII monument is grand and powerful. Viet Nam is quietly powerful and tragic.

enjoy some more pictures:

DC Trip part 3

DC Trip - Day Two with the children.
"That's it, no more mr. nice guy!"
That was the mantra for the beginning of the day. Monday was a lot of chaos and by golly we would not tolerate such an experience on Tuesday. I'm happy to say that we did not have to put up with the crazy chaos, the insanity, or the angry retorts at the same level we experienced on Monday.
The day started with a nice long trip to the park, taking as much time as possible, and then playing standard park games - throwing stones at other kids, soccer in a small grassy area, and taking turns on the swings. There were two swings for about 20 kids so everybody got to take a turn. Isn't sharing fun? Aside from one violent outburst that made people cry, the day went pretty well.
On the way back I got to have a long conversation with one boy on why it is actually good to forgive people and walk away. He was sure that the best thing to do would be to get revenge no matter what. I don't know if I convinced him.
In the afternoon we had our rotations - music, art, and storytelling. For the first time kids sat still and listened to me! Now if I could only find something good to say. Overall the kids were good for everyone and it was a good day. For dinner I enjoyed Ethiopian cuisine with some of the other youth (see picture). At our return we saw a broken door leading us to think that maybe someone broke into the church. Everyone was very nervous except for me. I was so tired that I pretty much slept through the whole thing - not very helpful.

enjoy some pictures

Day three with the children - bowling.
On the third day there was a Metro ride, bowling, and no kids lost or hurt! At the bowling alley we saw the kids acting in a way appropriate for their age for the first time. It was good to see. The field trip made for an easier day over all and that was nice.

Later in the evening, at dinner we made silly faces trying to imitate one person in the group - I wont say who, but it wasn't me. His initials are J.D.C.

Overall it has been a very good two days. We have been trying to let the kids know that God loves them and that we love them. I don't think that is a message they often hear. I have been trying to teach Bible stories and am surprised at how much they do not know. There is a lot of work that needs to be done and I am very realistic and aware that we are only just starching the surface.

DC Trip part 2

Day 2 - started with worship. The music was grand. The preaching was great. A good time was had by all. NBMC is an ethnically mixed congregation with a predominately African-American style of worship. Hence the great music.

Following worship we were oriented. Apparently orientation here is when they tell you about all of the trouble kids, what they do that will push your buttons, and why you need to be a big meanie. Oh, and make sure they don't push each other on the train tracks when taking the subway.

With such lovely thoughts dancing on our minds we went to see some of the Smithsonians. Natural History! Air and Space! THe National Gallery of Art (not actually a Smithsonian, but close enough)! Hooray for free stuff.

The evening ended with Pastor Darin singing some throwback David Lee Roth song about Paradise with the cashier at a 5 Guys and a Burger place.

Day 3 - The adventure really begins.
Today we met the kids. I think they were very smart because they arrived in small spurts; one, two, or three at a time. We had the wonderful opportunity to connect with them via card games, but nothing for money.

Breakfast, circle time, and then…chaos! Normally the kids go to the park in the morning but it was hot. Very, very hot. So we thought it might be better to bring them all into a big room and let them yell and scream and run and use our parachute. So far no fatalities so things were good.

After taking some kids to a different room to play soccer things settled down a bit and we were good until lunch.

Lunch - boxed government food. Need I say more?

Then frustration and an attempt in futility. Some of us were supposed to sing with the kids. Some were doing crafts. I was supposed to lead storytelling. But what happened was a lot of, "are you listening? Sit down. Stop calling her 'ugly.' Sit down. Are you listening?" and so on and so forth. Needless to say it was a little discouraging. But overall all, aside from the throwing of balls at us, the posturing and fighting between 5 year olds, and the random pouring of juice on the floor it was a pretty good day.

We got a wake up call telling us that this is not going to be anything like we thought. We were prepared for difficult, but need to amp up our game.

In the end, we still talked about Jesus. Told the kids that God loves them, and tried to get across the idea that there are other ways to live your life. Today we are going to try even harder to talk about Jesus, God's love, and the way of peace that we are called to walk. Everything else is secondary.

DC Trip part 1

Made it to Washington DC for our youth group mission trip. We are staying at the National Memorial Baptist Church

and will be working with a day camp all week. Right now it is pretty late, so I am not going to write much. I'm waiting for the church motion dictator to go off so I can turn it off. Apparently this is important, and if I miss this dogs will come out full steam, ready to attack and scare me into loving Jesus with all of my -----. So here I sit.

What have I learned so far. Well, seeing as how I just got here I guess I could say that I learned that the train is awesome, that subways are ok, and that it is hot. So hot that… (you fill out the rest).

Oh, and the escalators don't work and we had to climb up the Mt. Everest of escalators. Kinda hurt.

Also the kitchen smells, but that's not so bad. And finally, people are leaving Egypt on UFOs, or at that is what the guy on the corner was shouting.

Less Worship, More Voting!

Reflections on a Biennial

So I realized that the last post wasn’t very funny, and if I’m not funny then no one will want to read this and I’ll lose all of my readers and then I’ll lose my sponsorship, and then my children will have to go work in the factory for a penny a day so that we can continue to eat food (as opposed to eating non-food). I will do my upmost to make my reflections on the ABC Biennial humorous, or at least slightly amusing.

Here is one big take-away: worship services are long. I know my church folks complain about my sermons from time to time and I don’t heed their complaints to much, yet when you have one or two services every day the length starts to get very noticeable. Granted, the sermons, the music, the readings, and many other things were very good, but very long.

Another take-away: Puerto Rico is very hot and very cold. Outside it was muggy and warm. Inside the air conditioning was blasting. Maybe next time we should make sure our Biennial does not happen concurrently with the Penguin Convention.

One more take-away: don’t over-sell your point. Some of you may remember my post from the Biennial two years ago when the by-laws for the denomination did not pass. This year one person, a regional executive minister who is very unassuming, spoke fairly freely about the by-laws, the listening they did in the two years, and the changes that were made. There were statements made for and against and then the vote passed with 44 against around 500 for making 92% in favor of the motion. This is very different from two years ago.

What happened was they (the leadership of the denomination) did not force the sell and listened to representatives from churches. I suppose there is some kind of lesson that can be learned, but I refuse to listen to anyone who my think they know what that lesson might be.

Can Baptists do Theology?

Reflections on a Theology Conference

On July 23 and 24 I attended a Baptist conference on Theology in Puerto Rico. It was specifically for American Baptists.

It was refreshing to be able to talk openly and freely about being American Baptist from a theological perspective. I didn’t have to explain the difference between American Baptists and other kinds of Baptists, I didn’t have to explain terms like “soul freedom,” or “church autonomy,” and I didn’t have to talk in a fluffy, pastoral way about the importance of identity, credentials, or history.

Here is one basic take-away: we need to claim who we are, our identity.

All of the plenary speakers, Townes, Leonard, and Ramirez all spoke to the ideas of sharing stories, claiming history, and claiming a memory that looks to liberate narrative and symbols. So often our idea of what it means to be American Baptist is based on our memory from the past 50 years when we have more than 400 years to pull from.

Here is where I look smart – MacIntyre’s book, After Virtue, talks about the narrative of the community informing the identity and the virtues of the individual. The community has a story about moving towards the good (doing the right thing) and in those stories we find a continuity of virtues guiding actions. The individual has a history in the community and is shaped by his or her personal history as well as the narrative and history of the community.

We are Christians. We are Baptists. We are American Baptists. We have a story, an identity, and it is right to let them shape who we are and how we live.