Hello all! My name is Donna. I am an upcoming senior and this is my experience through BUMP in Brooklyn, New York.
My group had to undergo a lot of changes before coming, since the neighborhood is predominantly Asian. Cultural, religious, and language barriers were our issues. But God, like always, made a way. Chalk, bubbles and silly games draw the kids in quickly and effectively, and with that in their minds they invite friends cousins and siblings, which makes our numbers grow more everyday! It's one of the best feelings holding tight a sleepy child, playing hopscotch or blowing bubbles with them. Our mission was not to convert all the people in this community, but to love. There is no point in trying to get these people to believe in God's love for them if you do not first love them and show them the compassion they need.
There was a lot of work to be done during the week and my team was well prepared. We hosted a wonderful VBS program at the church, (which so far has been very successful!) helped serve the community with a free pancake feast, and what I'm going to go into detail about today; Five-Day Club.
Five-Day Club is a group of kids and adults that meet on someone's front porch to teach the gospel through missionary stories, songs, bible lessons and games. But once again, we have our barriers. Most of the children speak a small amount of English, but the parents do not. So trying to tell a mother to let her kinds come with some strangers is quite difficult. But once again, God makes a way. Thanks to their Chinese pastor, fliers were made in Chinese and passed out to huge amounts of parents and children. A lot of the groups that were sent out came back with fabulous news of kids and parents coming out and hearing the gospel, most of them for the first time.
I was sent to a beautiful neighborhood with at least 6-10 kids per family, so definitely a lot to work with. But no kids came. This is because we went to a Hasidic Jewish community, where the children are not allowed to smile at us and the men and women turn away. They believe that we are pagans and will not go to heaven -only they are allowed in. But still, God does not fail us!! Me, my friend from youth group, Daniel, and a wonderful woman named Eugene, were on the front porch of her father-in-law's house drawing with chalk, when out of the neighbors door comes a little boy and his mother. Being so little he didn't know that smiling at us was a bad thing so he waved and smiled back.
Thankfully the mother was very kind and allowed Eugene to come sit on the porch and blow bubbles, which led to a twenty-minute conversation between the two, which has never happened before in that community. Last year, one of our team members gave a balloon to a little girl and the church got reprimanded, so this definitely was risky, but God calls us to take risks and leave our comfort zones to get the word out, no matter how scary it can get.
A little later the rest of her children came out and were watching us draw with chalk and just be silly, which made them laugh. We then played this game that we had to jump on one foot from a chalk drawing of the earth, through the cross and into heaven. Honestly, I was nervous at first. I was really scared of getting Eugene and her family in trouble for doing these things, but then I remembered that I can't be in this comfortable bubble while trying to help these people learn of God's love. It just wasn't going to work. So then I took out my silly, ridiculous self and decided to just goof around and make the kids laugh. Well, it worked!
We didn't have to give an hour-long sermon to get these people to convert and leave their families or anything, all we had to do was plant seeds. I've been saying this all week to encourage my team members, because we're not going to get them all to believe and give their lives fully to Christ. But we planted seeds. We planted a spark inside their adorable little heads that Jesus loves them so much more than they could ever imagine, that their lives do matter, and that there is only one way to get to heaven, a completely free gift, that we don't deserve, yet still receive.
Please pray for the Second Evangelical Free Church in Brooklyn as they continue to do an amazing job of ministering and loving on these children and adults.
Thank you so much!
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