One thing Jesus does not lack in our church; willing helpers. Helpful helpers would have been nice during our main Sunday service. (All our actual leaders and leaders-in-training are in Altamira, at a conference). The group that showed up to help prepare were a younger crowd. I gave Railan the camera during the setup so you can sense some of the atmosphere.
Jobel is a fringe church goer. He loves the soccer. I asked him to be the main usher. “If things get out of hand I will need you to help me restore order.” But when the boys were being rowdy up front he was outside. Somebody helpfully told me there was a fight in our parking lot. I think that happened a couple of times over the two nights of services. Oh well. I think of it like this, “They were fighting before we got here. So anything good that happens is a bonus”.
All in all it went pretty well. About 50 people came, including a few youth and adults. I preached about the disciples crossing the sea during the storm while Jesus was sleeping in the boat, and how Jesus taught them to give their fears to him. I used many of the rowdies as props. They lined up their chairs up front as the disciples. Jesus was on the floor sleeping while they were afraid the boat was sinking in the huge waves. “What are your fears?” Snakes came up a few times. And darkness. In the end we had a quiet time, then we gave our fears to Jesus and asked Him to calm them down and to walk with us through life.
As you look at these photos can you see these kids ten years from now, in their young twenties? They all look just the same, except older. They are all still eager to get on the stage, eager to be useful.
For 19 photos click here. (There is a slideshow button above these pictures that works well).
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