I don't think Charlie had any idea when he stepped off the plane in Budapest that he was about to become a superstar in Gataia. I don't know if it was his mad soccer skills or his infectious smile, but by the end of the first day he had a group of boys that followed him everywhere. By Wednesday he had one boy that was bringing him presents every morning (usually a bag of chips and a Coke)! It was crazy! On Thursday we had Charlie duck down in the back of the van as we pulled up to the church. His groupies were eagerly waiting for him. You should have seen their faces fall when we said, "Charlie is sick, he's not here today." Then up pops Charlie and the kids start laughing. One day, just to be silly, I painted Keith's toenails during our break time. When one of Charlie's groupies saw it he said, "Did Charlie do it too? If Charlie did then I will!"
It was humbling to see how quickly any one of us could be put up on a pedestal. You could tell Charlie, though flattered, wasn't really comfortable with all the attention. I asked him how he felt about it. He said that he knew he would be out of his comfort zone coming on this trip and that if this is how God was going use him then he would go along with it. Of course, the rest of the team liked to jump on the bandwagon so anytime the kids started chanting Charlie's name - we did too. Heck - we even started it sometimes.
Though none of us had the following like Charlie, we all had at least one or two kids that always sought us out to play volleyball, American football, football, draw, and - in what became "my thing" - rock, paper, scissors.
On the first day we had 75 kids - 30-35 of which were completely knew names for Iosif's database. He does a very good job of keeping track of the kids and where they live. Soon he is going to start making a point of visiting with the parents so that they too might start coming to the church. Though the daily attendance stayed roughly the same - in all we had around 120 kids attend VBS at some point throughout the week.
From my experience, there is always at least one "thorn in my side" that I have to learn to deal with while on a mission trip. God usually puts it there for a reason. Keith quite literally had this same experience. On Tuesday, Keith & Charlie - with encouragement from the kids - went against each other in a sack race. They were intentionally being silly. Randy - not to be left out - tripped Charlie so he wouldn't win, then Keith dove over Charlie to win the race. After, Keith came over to me and said, "I think I just broke a rib. I heard it crack!" He was in a lot of pain that day and in the days to come. Upon our return to the states, our doctor confirmed that he indeed broke a rib, maybe as many as 3 were either broken or cracked (he didn't do x-rays but could tell by feel). It was a struggle for Keith because there was no outward sign of his internal pain. Not even a bruise. We all knew he was hurt, but the kids didn't and still wanted him to play football & soccer. So what's a guy to do?
Keith became a rock star - though like Charlie - it wasn't his desire to be one. On Monday, during the closing program, he accompanied us with guitar while the kids sang, "Jesus' love is bubbling over" (this was the English song I taught that day. And just like the kids in Haiti when I taught them, they loved it). Thursday, when it was Keith's turn to give a message, Iosif convinced him to play a drum solo for the kids. And then someone told Iosif that Keith could sing opera, so on our last day, he put him on the spot and made him sing for the kids. As talented as Keith is, he doesn't like to "show off." It's usually someone else convincing him to share his talent. As for me - I just live vicariously through him.
Lisa did an awesome job leading the crafts for the kids. I am so glad she was on the trip. Prior to leaving I was so focused on the things in my own world that I didn't even really think about Romania. We would have been lost but for Lisa's prep work. One day they made a paper basket that I think was the thorn in Lisa's side - but they turned out so well - even if they were a headache to do.
Randy & Tammy also should be commended for their prep work. Without them we wouldn't have had prizes and candy to hand out to the kids. Not only that - but had they not made this same trip last year - not a single one of us would have been here this year.
Each night we got to give a brief message to the kids. On Wednesday, Lisa spoke. She told of how she had accepted Christ as a child, but when she grew older, she had gone away from that faith, only to come back about 5 years ago. After she came back she prayed that God would use her. So He sent her a friend to share Christ with. That friend accepted Christ and then shared Him with someone else and on it goes. After her message - Iosif said something to the kids - I don't know what because he didn't translate it for us. Next thing I knew - he was praying and some of the kids were repeating the prayer. We found out later that he felt led to lead the kids that wanted to pray in the prayer of salvation to accept Christ. He told us that he wasn't sure if he'd get in trouble because usually, you don't give that message to children. I guess the idea is to wait until they are older to present it to them. I guess it's kind of like waiting to present it until they can make a more informed decision. Anyway, the pastor was in attendance that night and had no problems with it (and why should he - there are now kids that have Christ in their life???) God is good.
Throughout the week we quickly developed friendships - with some of the kids, the leaders, Iosif, Lanutza, Ramona & Florian, Anca, Marianna and each other. These people became more than just acquaintances, they are now friends. I feel honored to know each and every one of them.
You'll notice I haven't talked much about Friday. That's for tomorrow's post. There is too much to tell to justify it with a simple paragraph or two.
So until tomorrow...
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