‘Were you out
of your comfort zone?’ says youth leader.
‘Yes,’ I
reply with definite tone and raised eyebrow.
‘Good,’ says
he whilst wiping the nausea inducing, stomach churning contents of a plastic
basin into the bin.
Final night
and clean-up complete, I stepped out of the week’s discomfort zone of the
pre-teen, YouTube world and into the welcome, if slightly chilly embrace of the
summer holidays. I drove away from another year of Holiday Bible Club,
simultaneously making a mental list of books to pack in my suitcase and chewing
over the events of the past week.
Youth work
not being particularly my gift, the pedal kart racing, rapping, vlogging,
quizzing and messy gaming of our older HBC section were all quite the challenge
and a new experience for me. My alternative Fresh Prince rap lyrics (yes that
did happen) asked a genuine question, ‘Is this the type pf place that God sends
a mum?’
My parental
sleeve may have many things up it but a ready supply of ice-breaker games isn’t
one of them so on being asked to make a game suggestion, the only idea I could
contribute, was the cereal box game as recalled from bygone Youth Fellowship
days. Clearly my memory derives from mocking the entertaining attempts of
others to pick up a cardboard box of gradually reducing size with one’s teeth. I
have never possessed such suppleness of limb. I assumed that my one, rather
dull as I thought, game suggestion would be met with general disinterest so I
was mildly surprised when the empty Coco Pops and Weetos boxes (don’t judge our
grocery choices) were greeted with enthusiasm and provided twenty minutes of
competitive contortion and amusement.
As I watched
my dusty memory turn into fresh fun for the kids, it occurred to me – and it
seems an obvious thing to say – that much of what is long familiar to us, at
times forgotten about altogether, is a rosy, bright new experience for our
young ones. Therein surely lies the reason and the challenge of Holiday Bible Club.
Perhaps those
of us who have long been on the road of faith have a tendency to forget about the things that
were once new to us. As experiences and memories fade, gathering dust over
time, maybe we need to step into the zone of discomfort where often spiritual
recesses are swept out and forgotten things are brought back into the light.
I was asked
to ‘share my testimony’ at one point during the week. I was both challenged and
encouraged afresh by spending time considering the work of God in my life. It
was an imperfect attempt to share a personal declaration of truth and a brief
excerpt of a life’s experience but perhaps something of my old would be new to
a younger generation of my church family. Not only that but perhaps my
discomfort in the new would be the means of changing how I viewed the old.
Being
uncomfortable can safeguard us from forgetfulness and complacency. Discomfort
can also bring discovery about God and about ourselves while also benefiting others at the same time. In Christ, all things are made new. His work in us is
continual and is always good even when we are beyond feeling comfortable. In
fact, it is often precisely because we are far outside the boundaries of ease
and comfort that we learn and grow in faith.
In the thick
of uneasiness, trying to chat to a crowd of twelve year old kids, of making a fool
of myself on video and endeavouring to share a little of my own story of being
a Christian, I was reminded of just how amazing the gospel of Jesus Christ is. I
was reminded of the importance of passing on what we know of him to our kids, of
being prepared to do things and be in places that challenge us because in doing
so, things are made new even the things we thought were old and past.
As I shared
with the group a verse from Philippians which I am particularly fond of, our
attention was drawn to the sweatshirt of one of the boys who had the very same
words printed on his back – ‘And I am certain that God, who began the good work
within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when
Christ Jesus returns.’ (NLT)
There we both
were, individuals of different generations yet quoting the same Bible verse,
declaring the truth which never grows old, each in our own way.
God is at
work in all our lives regardless of age.
We are all on
a journey of discomfort and discovery.
One day the
source of all comfort and truth will appear.
Until then,
see you next year HBC?
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