#zhongpu

[unteriors]

Zhongpu, Chiayi County, Taiwan.

[teamdumpling-blog]

VBS Day One!

Today was the first day of the Village Bible School (VBS) in Zhongpu (中埔) and it went really, really well! Twenty-seven kids rocked up despite the heavy rain and had heaps of fun doing different activities. Registration in itself was an entertaining exercise. We got to give two boys English names because they didn't have one: Kyle and Jet. Yes, Jet. Jet came late so his name-giver is a mystery. I am determined to find out who he/she is.

The kids were split up into three different groups according to their school year and rotated around four different stations: storytelling, vocabulary, craft and games. Most of the team were split up and helped run different stations. It was interesting to see how different groups responded to the different activities. Being the first day, they were all a little bit shy to start off with but as the two hours wore on they became the most wild and close to uncontrollable kids imaginable. Just ask Elliot, who, at the end of the day, was swarmed by an army of them into the corner of the room, was endlessly jumped on, kicked, punched and poked... all in good fun of course!

I had the privilege to be the group leader of the Year 4 - 6 kids. They were the largest group of the three and had the rowdiest members (as expected). A highlight for me would have to be during the storytelling station where Adam and Janna took us through a story called "You Are Special" by Max Lucado. The take home message of the story is that we are special in the eyes of our creator regardless of what abilities and talents we might or might not have. This is the very short exchange (which was in Chinese) between Janna and one of the kids named Mark:

Janna: So have there ever been times where you have felt sad because you thought that you weren't talented or good at anything?

Mark: No, not at all!

Janna: Really? So you must be really great at a lot of things!

Mark: No, this isn't the case either! But I think that everyone has their own special gifts and abilities.

For me, to hear such a profoundly simple yet wise response from a boy in Year 5 was quite incredible and personally challenging. God has reminded me today of his unconditional love and also of his goodness in creating each of us so uniquely (Psalm 139:14-15).

Overall it was a very positive experience for the team today. The kids are awesome and we can expect more to turn up over the next few days given clearer weather and news getting around Zhongpu by word-of-mouth that VBS is happening. Stay tuned for more exciting updates!

Thank you to everyone who have been praying for us and for following us through this blog. The comments left have been very encouraging for the entire team as well! So please continue to do all these things all for His sake.

~ jono.