(This page contains LOTS of pictures. Be patient.)
Sunday night, after arriving and settling in, the various groups met to discuss the week's plans and assign responsibilities. We had three VBS groups and one work crew.
We were blessed to stay in a very nice facility, the gym of a local church. The gym had three temporary classrooms on one side (divided by sliding walls). These were our sleeping quarters. The girls kicked us guys out of the larger room (two rooms combined). Some guys opted to sleep out on the basketball court were there was more room (and more breathable air).
The gym also had a full kitchen and a service bar which enabled us to set up our meals cafeteria style. Each morning breakfast (cereal and fruit) was set out on the left and lunch (sandwich makings, chips and cookies) were set out on the right. Each person was responsible for packing their own lunch. Mrs. Spivey did an awesome job managing the kitchen and cooking occasional treats. (Like making pancakes one morning... woohoo!).
Monday evening we hit San Antonio's Riverwalk. Splitting into groups of three or more we fanned out to "minister" to as many cool restaurants and shops as possible. Many opted to "show God's love" to the mall.
My group (Me, Big Dog, Jordan, Haley, Jeremy, Kourtnii, Nick, and Brook) ate right on the river, under a bridge. Our waiter, Rafael, was ultra-cool and allowed us to sing him "Feliz Cumpleaņos" as it was his birthday.
In the end, we all ended up in Starbucks (a.k.a. Satan's Coffee Shop) were there was only one "slight" mishap involving Ryan Ward's Icee.
My group (#1... naturally) was made up of sponsors Crystal, Big Dog, Sammie, Justin, Larry, and Me; and 8th graders Bekka, Haley, Kourtnii, Lena (actually a 7th grader, but shhhhh), Isaac, Jordan, Ryan, and Seth. We spent the week doing VBS at a community center south of downtown (in the projects). There were four college kids doing summer missions there (Abby, Chelsey, Dana, and Matt) and we ranged from 19 to 39 kids per day.
There were a few three year olds that come every day. They seemed to really get into the hearts of our group. Quinton (a.k.a. Q-Baby) was a star attraction.
A few of these kids had amazing basketball skills even though they were only about 6 years old and three feet tall. The most impressive were AJ and Nick.
We had been told that, especially with project kids, touch is love. They are starved for physical touch and so they were happiest when they were being held. While it was gratifying to show them love, it was hard on the shoulders!
When you are physically and emotionally exhausted, have sweat through your clothes, but are on a huge spiritual high, the bus trip back to the church can get pretty weird. And let's not forget the fact that Big Dog managed to "check" every curb on the way (I lost count after six curb checks).
On Tuesday, Big Dog treated all the middle schoolers in our group to a DQ Blizzard. We sponsors had to fend for ourselves, but I'm okay with that. I know Big Dog loves me, even when he doesn't buy me ice cream.
On Wednesday, we taught the kids "There's a hole in the bottom of the sea", a song that my mom taught me when I was little. We added phrases to each verse from the bottom up. Please ignore the odd grammar. It was really hot and we were really tired.
I was amazed at how well the 8th graders did working with these kids. They led songs, taught Bible lessons, did crafts, and played and played and played with the kids. God's love was poured out all week long.
The kids nick-named Bekka "Tinkerbell" because she was shorter than about half the kids there.
It was a great trip and God moved in many ways. My life was changed, to be sure.
You can download a WinZip file containing all my pictures at http://www.light-spark.com/share/youth/msmt05/MSMT05.zip.