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:
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