The Last Round

Well, here we go. The home stretch. Tomorrow afternoon is the beginning of the end. And this week, just like all the others before it, will be different than anything we've done to this point. And I'm kind of nervous about it.

See, we got this awesome opportunity to partner with a charter school that serves primarily foster kids or those at risk of being placed in the foster system. I know-- cool, right? But there are two stipulations: 1. We have to run it Monday-Thursday (instead of our usual Tuesday-Friday) and 2. We can't talk about God, Jesus, or anything religious. Maybe these should have been deal-breakers, but we made the decision to go with it.

I'll take the second obstacle first. Last year, when faced with the same stipulation at the school where we'd been planning to hold our outreach, I knew God wanted us to walk away and not compromise. Have I gone soft? I keep wondering. But this year, I really think that God wants us to be at this school. It's in the exact neighborhood where we are trying to be long-term; and these are exactly the kinds of kids we are hoping to serve. Maybe that's why I feel differently about this one-- it's not a one-off event; it's the beginning of building a relationship. This is the "give them a reason to ask of the hope that is in you" phase of the relationship. So please pray that the kids will experience the love of Jesus through each of the leaders this week, even when we are not allowed to use our words just yet.

The first obstacle is actually more daunting to me right now. Monday is tomorrow. This camp session begins at 1pm. Our volunteers arrive at 4pm. I think it's safe to say that even if you're not very time-conscious, you'll agree that those time-frames don't make for good news. So we started recruiting. And recruiting. And begging. And pleading. And three days ago we had enough volunteers signed up to make it happen. And then a couple dropped out. And then one more. And then another. And another. Oh, and then two more. And I am trying not to freak out that we're at the eleventh hour without enough volunteers. Lord, you want us here, right? Will you supply our needs to make this happen because you have called us to this task?

So please pray that he will. And that we will build this relationship with the school in a way that allows us to partner with them longer-term. Pray that these same kids come to Padre Plaza on Friday for our special closing event (where we ARE allowed to talk about Jesus!) and that they'll hear about and understand the love they've been experiencing all week up to that point.

Pray that we have energy to make it through this last week. Pray that we have joy throughout it. Pray that we would genuinely love these kids with the love of Jesus. Pray that they'll feel it and know it's different than anything else they've experienced. And please, please pray that we have enough help tomorrow to pull this off....