Jesus, Who are You?

I exercised the missionary role of learner hosting a veteran team of volunteers from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau, MO (with priceless add-ons from Chester, IL, and Greeley, CO), in Belize last week. 

It was their third time leading an English Family Camp (EFC) in Valley of Peace, albeit my first. Accordingly, I sought counsel from the team leader, local staff, and former Belize missionaries, ultimately building a schedule and making plans based largely on past precedent. While I had no standard of comparison, the team leader was adamant that this year be more Christocentric than ever before. The team turned to one of the LCMS's FREE English Bible Camp curricula to structure their lessons around who Jesus Himself says He is: 1) the Light of the World, 2) the Bread of Life, and 3) the Resurrection and the Life/the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 

Who could say no to that face? 

After a BBQ lunch on Sunday, I enjoyed this view while I sent the team off to look at butterflies and hummingbirds I've seen multiple times now. 

All day Monday - and mornings on the four Camp days - were set aside for prep. The Rev. Benjamín Flores kicked off our workweek by highlighting the impetus behind EFC and the many ways it feeds directly into OIM's central pillar: Planting Lutheran Churches.

This impressive school supply store was our first of many stops on a run to Belmopan for last-minute necessities, snack ingredients, and lunch feat. some of the best hummus I've ever had. I'm bound and determined to recreate it. 

Joleen (CO) proved herself a master poster-maker. 

Alice prepping fruit salad for snack one day. We aimed for nutrition...most of the time ;)

Let registration commence! With "Family" in the name, I was surprised to see, overwhelmingly, kids.

Pastor Benjamín led an opening (the service of prayer for Early Evening, LSB pg. 297) each day before we divvied participants into groups. 

Joleen & Jackson (pictured) wrangled the littles.

Ages 7-11 squeezed into an adjacent classroom with Alice & Leah.

Chairs were at a premium, but that wasn't a problem for a visitor who joined us on Days 1 & 4.

Ages 12 and up stayed in the sanctuary, where Charlie & Joan got as advanced as asking them to write sentences and analyzing different parts of speech.

Everyone came back together for snacks & music, which usually tied into the theme of the day.

On multiple occasions, the team enjoyed evening meals provided by missionary families - in their [makeshift] homes...

...or at local establishments.

If you caught that there were only three themes listed in the opening paragraph for a Camp that ran T-F, good job. Thursday, the team graciously set aside their plans in favor of Pastor Benjamín's "book fair" vision. Get Scholastic out of your head. Nobody bought anything; rather, ours featured story time, card games, and BINGO, with lots of opportunities to go home with FREE books.

I manned the BINGO station, barely leaving this classroom all day.

Kids had to scour the shelves to score five-in-a-row by finding a book with a girl's name in the title, a book with a black cover, a book with a picture of the baby Jesus, a bilingual book, a book with 2+ authors, etc. 

Chaos aside, it was by far my favorite day. 

Many hands made for light work in cleaning it allllll up. Joleen even made a giant-sized color key for the different reading levels.

Hard to believe it's our last day already!

We celebrated with certificates and a veritable feast of Salvadorian delicacies. 

Peep the book fair sign above the door of the neighborhood gas station where stopped to fill up on the way home! 

Praise God for over 70 unique children reached by the time all was said and done. And what's more, having gone through the motions once, I feel infinitely better equipped to lead repeat Valley of Peace EFC teams orrrrrr, maybe, eventually, help translate the concept to other Belize church plants. 

Until next time, blessings in Christ!