Free @ TKC // Summer 2013 [After]
He is risen indeed!
And… breathe. Just like that, Free @ TKC Summer 2013 is over. It’s astonishing how much you can fit into five days – the songs, the games, the Bible teaching, the neck injuries (I’ll tell you more about that later). There’s an immense amount to be grateful for and a lot to continue praying about.
Fun times!
With kids work, it sometimes feels like you’re cheating the ministry machine – because it’s just so much fun! We’ve had a week full of silliness, games and laughter (a lot of which, I’ll be honest, was from us leaders). God blessed us with a real rapport and team spirit – which can be a struggle when you’ve got 90 kids! Gareth, who heads up the club, got it right at the end of the week when he said that the amount the kids’ enjoyment is always reflects the leaders’ effort. It was great to see my partners throwing themselves in, loving the kids and committing themselves to serving Christ with joy. And kids do say the darnedest things…
Kid: “I’m waiting for some peace”
Me: “What, you mean peace and quiet?”
Kid: “No, peace and harmony. You know – in the world”
Me: “Well that will only happen when Jesus comes back”
Kid: “… nah”
Or this exchange…
Leader: “Come on boys, come over here”
Kid: “We’re not boys… we’re Korean boys!”
Around the world.
All of our team names this week were countries. Needless to say, we set ourselves up for the possibility of some very politically incorrect moments. The kid who brought in a bottle of wine for Team Italy, the bandit costumes in Team Mexico on dress-up day and the ten year old whose impression of an Irish accent bore a striking likeness to that of a traveler were all pretty hilarious, but I think we managed to get through the week with nothing which would have offended any of the nationalities represented.
One body, many parts.
One of the benefits of the new format of the club is the team is now much more diverse. It ranged from young leaders who I remember being kids in the club to a few ol’ skool faces from the yesteryear of CEC kids work, back in the ring for a big time, pay-per-view, title defending comeback bout (yes Barry Hills, I’m talking about you). This mix really breathed new life into the team. It could only be the Gospel of Jesus Christ that brought such a miss-mash of people to serve together!
Eternal work.
Despite the running, the constant activity, the E-numbers, kids work is a very slow process. It’s a drip-drip ministry, and really teaches you that we can plant and water seeds, but only God makes them grow.
This week Gareth took us “On Tour With Jesus” through Luke’s Gospel. We saw Jesus’ great journey – from heaven to earth as a baby, back to heaven as the risen Lord and promising that he will one day return to be with his people. The kids did an exceptional job of learning our (quite long) memory verse. Conversations about the talks over lunch were a constant time of encouraging reinforcement of what they learned. Answers to quiz questions were spot on. They may not even realise, but the kids soaked up a lot of Gospel truth. An invaluable groundwork gets laid in these clubs, setting the scene for the day when the Holy Spirit fully reveals Christ to them.
The church hall was crammed with parents on the Friday afternoon as we invited them to get a taste of the club, seeing the songs, art, dance and drama prepared in the week, all of which revolved around the teaching. So even the parents got a taste of the Gospel! The fruit of this week will not be fully revealed until glory – but we trust that there will be fruit, and pray that God would grow a crop a hundred times more than what was sown.
“He is not here! He has risen! Remember how he told you while he was still with you in Galille: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again'” – Luke 24:6-7
An Unshakable Kingdom 