I have a break tonight so I thought i would catch up on all this stuff. I am sitting at a coffee shop called Abouche. It feels confortable to be in a coffee shop, but I wish i were in slo. I went home to slo yesterday for the day to clean... yeah! Anyways, I am not sure if anyone even reads this but i have been thinking about a issue at camp and I would love to get it out for others opinions. You see, all week here at camp we sing silly cmap songs and have corny object lessons about faith hope and love. But i don't think that any of the campers are understanding the concept of sin. I know that the 16 girls in my and my co counselor's cabins did not. And those were the oldest girls, 12 years old. There are so many problems with this issue, but the problem I am most concerned with is that on Sunday mornings when we have our church service, the issue is not addressed. All the children are told is that they need to follow Jesus. Then this corny song is sung but most of the camp. It goes, "I've got my mind made up, and my heart is set, and I'm going with Jesus all the way." Well, issues this that too, because the song starts off with one person singing it and then if you want to sing it, you raise your hand and the main person calls on you. Well, next comes my favorite part. the ALTER CALL. I hate them, well maybe that is harsh, because God could use them in a persons life, but can I just say that the previous day, the 16 girls in my cabin could not for the life of them explain to me what the memory verse meant to them personally. the verse was not hard, the verse said that without faith it is impossible to please God. Well, if you cannot talk about that, how in the world are you going to go up to the front of chapel and promise to follow Jesus. And then I think of Brian's sermon some time ago about the bleeding woman and how what little faith she had, although ignorant was good enough for God. So should I not be worried that these campers have no clue why they should follow Christ. We are not supposed to follow Him becuase our couselors tell us to. or because everyone else around us is doing the same. or even becasue it seems right at the time (some might argue that this is the Holy Spirit promting us. But I argue that often at camp, that feeling is more of a social pressure) no we are supposed to understand that our souls lack something and we are supposed to understand that if we ask Him to, Jesus will cover us in his blood to pay for those sins. I am sorry, I just don't see the children understanding that. I think it is possible though. I htink that these children are older enough to understand that. I was talking to someone else about ti and they were saying that tons of kids in middle schools are smoking pot and giving blow jobs in the bathrooms at recess. Tell me that a child who is able to do that cannot understand sin. WE FALL SHORT. I don't know if there is anything I can do outside of just trying to explain to my girls the Truth about sin and redemption. I feel helpless here. and I wish there was more.
I live near a long thin park called Parque Forestal. It's really quite a nice park and it has a long stretch of a lane for riding bikes or jogging. And since I have a fear of riding bikes in this city, I jog. It's really pleasent. I usually listen to radioDisney on my mp3 player and jog along to Jonas Brothers, Beyonce, or Julieta Venegas. Great stuff. Yesterday on my jog I noticed that the trees were beginning to change. Fall has finally arrived and I am glad for the change. But as I was jogging through the falling leaves, I began to think about how much I like fall. And I had this special moment when I realized that I want to be here in Santiago, jogging through this park for many falls to come. After the past few weeks of cultural adjustment being a little more painful than normal, this was a nice thought to have.
Comments
So when are you leaving for Chile? I went to visit Marcela and her daughter Flo this week (they are in the States right now) and they would love to have you come visit. I'm thinking about going again myself. Well, more like playing with the idea and if I did, it wouldn't be til January. I've decided to stay home for a few months, save money, maybe take a class or two at the JC, then reevaluate in December. Really, I don't know why I even pretend to have a plan since God's has yet to line up with mine for very long. But HE provides and though there have been tough times along the way, I know His way is always better than my own. That said, I miss Mike a ton. Really, I guess I'm doing pretty good seeing that the spilt only happened a week ago, but sometimes I just catch myself being like, "What the heck?! Did that really happen?" Ok, so I think this is the longest rambling comment yet, but I know you would expect nothing else from me:) Miss you bunches Beckacita. Hugs!