The Garden Project Story
It was the Summer of 2007, and I asked God to just show me where He wanted to use me. I'd tried looking around at several different volunteer agencies, looking for a place to serve with a little extra time, but nothing seemed to fit. One day, my friend Amanda asked me if I'd like to go with a small group of college/post-college students who were sort of doing a "Vacation Bible School" with some kids in a low-income apartment complex. She told me that they were planning on planting a community garden as well. It sounded like fun, so I went. My first time, after our paper-making activity with about 10 or 12 kids, a fight escalated to the point where the police were called. "I thought you guys were bringing Jesus," the apartment owner quipped as we loaded up our stuff that day.
That little project turned into weekly trips to work in the the garden and play with the kids. The core group of college/post-college students remained relatively the same, but changed some through the months. I moved home for awhile in the Fall, but came back to visit every now and then. Towards Christmas time, I was amazed to hear that they were planning a Christmas play with the kids! I never thought these kids were capable of being organized into anything other than episodes of group games like fruit-and-vegetable tag (and even then, they cheated like crazy). But sure enough, they did it, with much help and patience from people like Emily, Elisa, Luke, Amanda, and Josh, and a few others. It was a miraculous production! (We have the video to prove it).
The weekly visits continued, and I rejoined the effort in January, since I'd moved back into the area. The Garden itself morphed into mostly lettuce, and the new phase of jump-roping began. Then came SonRise 2008. Wouldn't it be a great idea if we took the kids through SonRise to see the Easter story up close? Once again, I was skeptical, but it did sound like an adventure. We couldn't get enough tickets, so we decided to dress them all up in the same Christmas Bible costumes and take them through, since you don't have to have tickets for the program if you are dressed as Bible characters. Sneaky. It worked great though, and the kids seemed to enjoy their costumes almost as much as the SonRise program. It was an adventure, alright, but we made it. We even completed the day with a picnic and Easter egg hunt, thanks to Josh's grandma. :)
Somewhere around this time, someone (Amanda again?) had the idea to see if any of the kids wanted to go to camp. This idea honestly blew me away. Until then, I'd really just seen the kids as a side project--we were doing our Christian duty, giving of our precious time to hang out with these kids for a few hours every week...but camp. Really? It just seemed incredible and impossible. But the Ooltewah SDA Church offered to sponsor however many kids wanted to go, and nine kids were persuaded, mostly by Josh and Amanda. We provided transportation, and the church provided the camp fee, as well as a bit of camp store money for each, and some extra funds to cover possible needed camp supplies for the kids. I was so impressed with the generosity, and with the awesome opportunity that these kids got--and was super excited that I got to help take them to camp! It was so much fun to hear them talk about all the stuff they did at camp, and what it was like for them.
In the Fall of 2008, we transitioned a bit. Many of the kids from the "Garden" had moved, and the ones who were still there did not seem as interested when we came. We were also running out of steam, since several of our group had moved away, and we hadn't recruited new help yet. After some prayer and brainstorming, we decided to "go after" an 11 year-old girl named Kayla* who had moved to a different part of Chattanooga with her family. We knew she had been interested in baptism during camp, but were also quite sure there had been no follow-up with her. We decided to check with an SDA church plant in her area of Chattanooga to see if they were interested in connecting with the family. They connected us with Ben, their theology student extern, who began Sabbath afternoon Bible studies with Kayla, while Elisa and I helped, or tried to entertain her two younger cousins. We soon discovered that Kayla probably wasn't quite ready for the Bible study idea, so Sabbath afternoons turned into simply hanging out with all three of them at different parks, or going on hikes. It worked pretty well, and we figured if nothing else, we were able to give them positive interaction and attention. Some of our friends joined us on these excursions, which also helped make it more fun.
By the Winter and Spring of 2009, Kayla, her cousin, and eventually some of the neighbor kids were coming with us to church. We'd built better relationships with the parents as well, who also came to church a few times, and we were surprised to find they came from an Adventist background. Kayla also was able to attend a youth Bible study every other Friday night with people from The Well, which she seemed to enjoy a lot. SonRise came again, and we collected Kayla and company, along with a few kids from the Garden who were still there. (This time we had tickets, so we didn't have to dress up. :)
And then the idea came back. What about camp? I think at various times of this project, my friends and I have sort of stepped back to take a good, long look before we commit to doing whatever the next step is. We know it will be hard, and we don't know if we'll have time, or if it will be worth it, or how we will do it...but something, or Someone, somehow pushes us on, and assures us that He'll take care of everything if we just follow His lead. So that's what we've tried to do.
We started out with six or seven kids who were interested in going to camp--Kayla and her cousins, and some kids from the Garden who had gone last year. We found sponsorship for them through The Well (church plant) and the Ooltewah SDA Church. But then it happened. Two more wanted to come, then it was five, then eight. At first, we tried to put our foot down and say, sorry, we're out of funding, maybe next year. But we couldn't get those kids out of our minds. So we began opening the door a little, saying that if we could find the funding, they could go. We told them they might want to pray about it, cause we had no idea how it was going to happen. But I think once we made that decision to at least try, God blessed. We called our family, and sent out some emails, and within three or four days, had over the amount we needed to send an additional eight campers to Cohutta Springs Youth Camp. I was feeling pretty good about that, but there were still other kids who wanted to go, and they finally wore me down again (Elisa wasn't around to confer with), so this week, I told four more that if I found the funding, they could go. I sent an email out to a few more people, and by the next day they were covered. Apparently, God wants them all to go, but I'm kind of hoping He can just leave it at 21 campers for this summer! (In fact, I've had to start telling a few more "no, we're done" again...)
Yes, it's been a lot of work to get all the paperwork, track down missing kids (see the last blog), transport them to camp and register them, and transport them home, and various other details that seem to come up out of no where (like doing laundry for a couple of kids this week since they haven't been able to afford to wash their clothes for quite awhile). But it's also been the most rewarding experience I've had in a long time, and I'm pretty sure Elisa and others involved would say the same. It's truly amazing to think of the opportunities these kids will have to interract with positive staff, enjoy heaps of fun, and hopefully understand Jesus in a way they never have before.
I am not sharing this story to make me or Elisa or any of us involved look like Chattanooga heroes. We're not. God is the Hero who just let us join what He was already doing, and I love this story so much because it is a little history of His working in the lives of ordinary people. The cool part is that we get a front row seat to see what He's doing, and to testify that He is alive and well--just down the street.
*Not her real name.
That little project turned into weekly trips to work in the the garden and play with the kids. The core group of college/post-college students remained relatively the same, but changed some through the months. I moved home for awhile in the Fall, but came back to visit every now and then. Towards Christmas time, I was amazed to hear that they were planning a Christmas play with the kids! I never thought these kids were capable of being organized into anything other than episodes of group games like fruit-and-vegetable tag (and even then, they cheated like crazy). But sure enough, they did it, with much help and patience from people like Emily, Elisa, Luke, Amanda, and Josh, and a few others. It was a miraculous production! (We have the video to prove it).
The weekly visits continued, and I rejoined the effort in January, since I'd moved back into the area. The Garden itself morphed into mostly lettuce, and the new phase of jump-roping began. Then came SonRise 2008. Wouldn't it be a great idea if we took the kids through SonRise to see the Easter story up close? Once again, I was skeptical, but it did sound like an adventure. We couldn't get enough tickets, so we decided to dress them all up in the same Christmas Bible costumes and take them through, since you don't have to have tickets for the program if you are dressed as Bible characters. Sneaky. It worked great though, and the kids seemed to enjoy their costumes almost as much as the SonRise program. It was an adventure, alright, but we made it. We even completed the day with a picnic and Easter egg hunt, thanks to Josh's grandma. :)
Somewhere around this time, someone (Amanda again?) had the idea to see if any of the kids wanted to go to camp. This idea honestly blew me away. Until then, I'd really just seen the kids as a side project--we were doing our Christian duty, giving of our precious time to hang out with these kids for a few hours every week...but camp. Really? It just seemed incredible and impossible. But the Ooltewah SDA Church offered to sponsor however many kids wanted to go, and nine kids were persuaded, mostly by Josh and Amanda. We provided transportation, and the church provided the camp fee, as well as a bit of camp store money for each, and some extra funds to cover possible needed camp supplies for the kids. I was so impressed with the generosity, and with the awesome opportunity that these kids got--and was super excited that I got to help take them to camp! It was so much fun to hear them talk about all the stuff they did at camp, and what it was like for them.
In the Fall of 2008, we transitioned a bit. Many of the kids from the "Garden" had moved, and the ones who were still there did not seem as interested when we came. We were also running out of steam, since several of our group had moved away, and we hadn't recruited new help yet. After some prayer and brainstorming, we decided to "go after" an 11 year-old girl named Kayla* who had moved to a different part of Chattanooga with her family. We knew she had been interested in baptism during camp, but were also quite sure there had been no follow-up with her. We decided to check with an SDA church plant in her area of Chattanooga to see if they were interested in connecting with the family. They connected us with Ben, their theology student extern, who began Sabbath afternoon Bible studies with Kayla, while Elisa and I helped, or tried to entertain her two younger cousins. We soon discovered that Kayla probably wasn't quite ready for the Bible study idea, so Sabbath afternoons turned into simply hanging out with all three of them at different parks, or going on hikes. It worked pretty well, and we figured if nothing else, we were able to give them positive interaction and attention. Some of our friends joined us on these excursions, which also helped make it more fun.
By the Winter and Spring of 2009, Kayla, her cousin, and eventually some of the neighbor kids were coming with us to church. We'd built better relationships with the parents as well, who also came to church a few times, and we were surprised to find they came from an Adventist background. Kayla also was able to attend a youth Bible study every other Friday night with people from The Well, which she seemed to enjoy a lot. SonRise came again, and we collected Kayla and company, along with a few kids from the Garden who were still there. (This time we had tickets, so we didn't have to dress up. :)
And then the idea came back. What about camp? I think at various times of this project, my friends and I have sort of stepped back to take a good, long look before we commit to doing whatever the next step is. We know it will be hard, and we don't know if we'll have time, or if it will be worth it, or how we will do it...but something, or Someone, somehow pushes us on, and assures us that He'll take care of everything if we just follow His lead. So that's what we've tried to do.
We started out with six or seven kids who were interested in going to camp--Kayla and her cousins, and some kids from the Garden who had gone last year. We found sponsorship for them through The Well (church plant) and the Ooltewah SDA Church. But then it happened. Two more wanted to come, then it was five, then eight. At first, we tried to put our foot down and say, sorry, we're out of funding, maybe next year. But we couldn't get those kids out of our minds. So we began opening the door a little, saying that if we could find the funding, they could go. We told them they might want to pray about it, cause we had no idea how it was going to happen. But I think once we made that decision to at least try, God blessed. We called our family, and sent out some emails, and within three or four days, had over the amount we needed to send an additional eight campers to Cohutta Springs Youth Camp. I was feeling pretty good about that, but there were still other kids who wanted to go, and they finally wore me down again (Elisa wasn't around to confer with), so this week, I told four more that if I found the funding, they could go. I sent an email out to a few more people, and by the next day they were covered. Apparently, God wants them all to go, but I'm kind of hoping He can just leave it at 21 campers for this summer! (In fact, I've had to start telling a few more "no, we're done" again...)
Yes, it's been a lot of work to get all the paperwork, track down missing kids (see the last blog), transport them to camp and register them, and transport them home, and various other details that seem to come up out of no where (like doing laundry for a couple of kids this week since they haven't been able to afford to wash their clothes for quite awhile). But it's also been the most rewarding experience I've had in a long time, and I'm pretty sure Elisa and others involved would say the same. It's truly amazing to think of the opportunities these kids will have to interract with positive staff, enjoy heaps of fun, and hopefully understand Jesus in a way they never have before.
I am not sharing this story to make me or Elisa or any of us involved look like Chattanooga heroes. We're not. God is the Hero who just let us join what He was already doing, and I love this story so much because it is a little history of His working in the lives of ordinary people. The cool part is that we get a front row seat to see what He's doing, and to testify that He is alive and well--just down the street.
*Not her real name.
YAY! I cheer on the Hero and His team!
ReplyDeleteI'm so proud to have you as friends :)