Bible School

My church has been hosting a weeklong bible school since I was a child and I attended as a student until the age of 12.  At the age of 13 I started helping and have been helping since then, I am now 21 (you can do the math).  This week was my first time as a teacher and the first year we changed up how bible school ran.  I was with the 3-5 age group this week and I’m not going to say it was life changing but it was a blessing.  I hate to admit this has been the longest hardest week in my life.  I have worked all day every day preparing the snacks for all the children and adults which was a total of about 80 snacks and I also had to take care of my grandma 24/7 every day because she had cataract surgery on Monday (my grandma is not an easy patient) and then every night at 6 I loaded the car up and headed to the church and was there working until 10 every night.  I started the next day all over again at 7 sometimes 6 in the morning and quit at 10 sometimes 11. One sprained wrist, one broken leg, and a hurt back later it is all over. 

Now, after all of that, I have witnessed some amazing changes this week in these kids.  New friendships, new relationships, and new faith have been experienced this week and it was such a blessing to be a part of it.  I had 15 kids in my class and while some of them were already students in my Sunday school class others were visitors from the surrounding neighborhoods.  Our church is located in a very poor neighborhood and the children who came this week were from poor, broken homes and craved attention, love, and even a simple snack.  I watched children of all difference ages, races, and backgrounds come together as one to learn about the life of Jesus Christ and the Bible.  I saw teenagers having fun playing simple games outside and listening intently as they were taught lessons from the Bible.  I saw young children sing Jesus Loves Me and learn stories about Adam and Even, David and Goliath and many more.  It was amazing.  (I’m getting chill bumps as I write about it)

One little boy sticks out in my memory- his name is Nathaniel.  He was a visitor at our church and I’m not very sure that he spoke much English or even understood much English.  He was very shy the first night, he didn’t speak, he didn’t play, and he wouldn’t make eye contact and was very withdrawn.  But, each night I watched him and saw as he changed and tonight he was playing, talking, laughing, and singing.  I saw his eyes sparkle as he sang God’s Not Dead and when we played London Bridge after snacks.  It really touched me to know that this child who probably had a hard life and never heard about Jesus was able to open up this week and enjoy himself while learning about God.