To My Sunday School Kids (part one)

So... once upon a time, I introduced you to my Kenya team. It seems like it might be about time to introduce you to my 4th and 5th graders. In this case, I'll let you listen in to the things that I have told them, in bits and pieces, over the last few months. (They have letters and not names for their safety and privacy.)

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M: You are one of the most courageous kids that I know, and I can practically feel the determination bundled up in your body, ready to attack the next challenge you come across. For a fourth grader, your maturity amazes me and your loyalty is more fiercely stubborn than I've seen in people twice your size. I love watching the way that you can be friends with anyone, even when it takes hard messy work; and the pride in your eyes when you tell other kids about what I did "in Africa" - because, I was, after all, your teacher (a couple times) even before I left the continent.

P: I love the way that you roll your eyes at me during Sunday school, as if I really am just as crazy as the rest of our small group. We miss you on the weeks when you're not there. LJ misses you as his compatriot and all of the kids miss your steadying presence. You're one of our only fifth grade guys and one of the most unflappable kids I've known. Nothing throws you for a loop, not even when the chair next to you is being upended so that its owner can throw markers through the cracks. Your servant's heart is amazing, and the best gift that you give us is that smile that sometimes pops through when we ask a question that is directed just at you.

JE: Our group wouldn't be the same without your quirky spark or the devious grin that comes out when you tell me just why you think whatever idea I've presented is a bad one. You're always willing to share, and I think that you're finally starting to realize that you can feel safe with us. Unlike M, you don't save up your determination. You spend it all, all the time, and everything that you do is forceful. The more you feel safe, though, the more that force is tempered by your amazingly accurate intuition. Sometimes you say things, and I see the other kids look at you like maybe a grown up has taken over your body for a few seconds, because you have taken the conversation so effectively to just where you think it should go.