April Fools folly and wisdom

Dear brothers and sisters,
Now that Camp Joy has ended I'm at Camp Peace for Monday and Friday. Camp Peace is entirely different though it has twice the kids but half the stress. It's hard to tell really though because the kids still see me as the new guy. As for Camp Grace I'm old news. I am working with the grade 7's, for a large chunk of the day and they are always a challenge. Many of the older kids come from Grandview School in East side Vancouver. It is an urban aboriginal school which has a lot of "hard" kids. It's not that these kids are overly tough or necessarily bad kids but they try and wear a very tough exterior. Many times these kids dress like little gangsters, listen to hiphop/rap and are usually exposed to many things that you wouldn't expect a children of their age to be exposed to. A good example of this would be the discussion I had with the seveners, three Wednesdays ago. On Wednesday I try to run a discussion usually about some every day situation and see how the kids would react to it. I do this to try and add some practical application instead of the usual Bible time. First the kids show me their stance and than I take the stand of an average citizen. This day we talked about strangers. I went through two scenarios: one involving a stranger on the street disguising themselves as a friend of the child’s mother (not father because many of the kids at camp don’t know their fathers); and another involving an older kid that they had met over the internet who wanted to meet up with them. The discussion started off quite normal with the kids answering the questions as most kids would by talking about how their parents taught them not to get sucked into situations involving strangers. Compared to the week before I was quite impressed that they actually held the same stance as me. As the conversation progressed we started talking about different strangers who lurked outside their school. They began to tell me about the prostitution in which they had heard rumors of classmates getting involved in. Also scenarios of rape and other crimes which they had heard were happening at parties which some of there older friends at Van tech(a senior high school many of them would be going to after grade seven) had told them about. As much as one would like to stay far from these things the reality of it is that these things are happening all around these kids. As a leader it was good to be there to talk to these kids about these issues and to discuss with them. In certain instances I was able to explain to them what actions would be best to do in certain situations but on the other hand I didn’t have all the answers. One thing that I really hope to get out of working at Urban Promise is more insight into the problems that people face in the Urban areas of Canada. Growing up in small town Alberta I was never exposed to that life. I was actually quite sheltered. Urban Promise is teaching me not only to take care of “troubled” kids but opening me up to different lifestyles and situations that I wouldn’t otherwise see in rural Alberta or East side Saskatoon. It is as though I am just starting to see the skills that God has equipped for me. There are so many areas here in which I am able to utilize my skills; I just now have to learn how to make the most of them while I am here. I have a long way to go though; I still miss many teachable moments and struggle to find balance in my work and extra-curricular activities. Despite it all, I’m still staying above the water and I’m learning little tips along the way. It is always nice to know though that God is taking care of me because many days it is hard to see the “forest for the trees.”