But this week I was in a parade like none I've ever seen before... a parade to end all parades... a parade that I'm pretty confident I will remember forever. It didn't have special effects or fireworks or elaborate dances. It was simple and happy and beautiful and exuberant, and it taught me something. Fun and educational! ;)
This week New Hope Church held its first Vacation Bible School for children! Nobody knew how it would go, what it would look like exactly, or how many children would come. Kristin and I were unsure if we would be anything more than onlookers to the process, as we hadn't been given any responsibilities for the week or any lesson plans. The church leaders didn't know if any children aside from the children's home kids would even show up.
But come Monday morning, there were 460 children at the church from 18 neighboring villages! There was singing! Dancing! Bible stories! Puppet shows! Games! It was a perfectly Indian, last-minute event that blessed a small army of children and their families. The church called it a "Children's Blessing Festival."
Kristin and I were asked the first day if we would tell a story (not a Bible story, as they were already learning Bible stories) and teach some songs to the children. Songs are no problem, we can sing anytime. But a story... hmmm... we begged leave to retire and brainstorm for a while. Recruiting our other American friend, Ben, we decided to tell a version of The Three Little Pigs, casting Ben as the Big Bad Wolf. Voices, actions, and all manner of silliness earned the approval, bated breath, and interest of the children, who even paid attention to the moral at the end. So each day we converted a classic children's story into a Biblical lesson about God's love for us and acted it out, complete with crazy costumes, makeup, and volunteer involvement on stage. I wish you could have seen the reactions we got from the kids as Ben the lion chased Kristin the mouse, wagging his tail and roaring. I'm not sure, but it may have been even more fun for us than it was for the kids. (for photos of this and more, visit my Facebook page)
It was so sweet to join the children in worship, learn their action songs, pray with them, and see them soak up the word of God. So many children came up to us after each session for prayer, and it was humbling to place my hands on their little shoulders and lift their needs up to the Lord. The faith of children is simple and beautiful.
On the final day of VBS, we held a parade through Chillakallu. With 460 dancing, singing, paper-crown-wearing kids, we trooped through the streets of the village, carrying banners with scriptures declaring the truth about Jesus and the love of God. Volunteers and children alike were so excited. The atmosphere was purely joyful. Faces with radiant smiles sang and shouted Jesus' name. Parade leaders danced and sang at the front with a bicycle-rickshaw pulling a small speaker to broadcast the vocals. Drums beating, hands clapping, there was a lot of glorious noise! And wouldn't you know it, the whole village came out to see the happy commotion of these child-evangelists.
Walking through the streets, holding the hand of a small boy and joining my voice with 500 other little voices in song, I was struck by how happy we all were to be declaring Jesus' name to the community. There was no shame or embarrassment. There was no real plan or strategy. There was no eloquent preaching. There was just a group of people so happy about their salvation that they wanted to dance and sing for all to see.
I felt lightness and joy and privilege. What a happy thing it is to tell others about the blessing of life in Christ! What a special gift we have, this ability to declare who He is! Why do I hesitate so often to talk of His works, when all of them are good? How can I fail to see what a blessing it is to share that joy with others?
The Christians in this overwhelmingly-Hindu community have so few material comforts and so little worldly love. They have much more to lose than I do by declaring their faith: they face persecution, discrimination in the job market, the loss of family, even violence. But they are so happy to be saved that they count those risks as nothing compared to the joy and privilege it is to share the one true God with others. They can't keep quiet about it when so many around them are living in ignorance of the salvation and joy available to them! It's a beautiful task to share Jesus.
I like what Indian pastor Theodore Williams said about evangelism:
We face a humanity that is too precious to neglect. We know a remedy for the ills of the world too wonderful to withhold. We have a Christ too glorious to hide. We have an adventure that is too thrilling to miss.
May we all learn to recognize the privilege it is to evangelize wherever we are, whether that means opening the Bible to share scripture with a friend at work, inviting someone to church, living uprightly in a fallen world, or parading down the street dancing for the Lord.
I know every day can't be a parade, but I want to live my daily life reflecting the precious and wonderful task before me: to happily spread the news about the true source of joy wherever I go. It's an adventure too thrilling to miss.
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