All 4 Jesus
Imagine 400 kids in one place. 400 Filipino kids. All in the same dark blue shirt. All singing praises and clapping. All playing games. All smiling.
Joy.
All 4 Jesus, better known as A4J, has once again started up at Faith Academy. This program, which has been around for many years, is one of the opportunities that Faith Academy has to minister to the local community. You see, right around Faith Academy there are many poor people. We have a heart to minister to the people God has placed right outside our gates.
All of the 400 kids sing together to start A4J.
I have been given the privilege of co-leading the Junior girls group, ages 10-12, every Sunday morning when we meet. Though neither the other two leaders nor myself have ever helped with A4J before, we work with a group of five Faith Academy high school girls and five Filipino high schoolers, almost all of whom have been a part of this program for a few years. Many of the Filipino girls who lead grew up going to A4J as children. Now they are leading the Bible stories!
The Junior Girls at story time.
Each week, it warms my heart to see the smiles on the girls’ faces as they join us. They want hugs and attention. They want to wash in the bathroom and look at themselves in the big mirrors. They want to brush their hair. They want to be loved on. And what better place than at A4J where we can have fun and share the love of Jesus?
My favorite part of the whole morning is at the end of Bible time when the girls say their memory verse together. I love hearing 65 girls all saying the verse out loud at the same time in Tagalog and then working hard to memorize it. I love that God can reach these kids, even if I cannot yet speak their language. I love being a part of this ministry to the community right near where I live, and I look forward to continuing to build relationships with these kids, hopefully for many years to come.
A Brief School Update
We have reached the end of the first quarter! We have been working hard, and I think we are all ready for a break. Today and tomorrow this week we have parent/teacher conferences, followed by a week of October break. I’m looking forward to my friend, Heidi Reimer, coming to visit me during the second half of my break!
A few of my students after their VB game. |
