Coming To A Close

I don't expect this to be much of a post because I am so pressed for time, but if I don't write tonight I won't be able to until I am back in Texas. I have a pretty busy weekend ahead of me. Tomorrow, I will be waking up bright and early (5:00 AM) in order to get ready and go to a men's bible study. After that, I am picking up some Burundian children for a VBS Coram Deo has organized for the African kids this past week. Then I am going to a lake house two hours away in Iowa that belongs to an elder of the church. A few of the church members will be going as well. On Saturday, I am driving back to Omaha to pick up my mom who is flying into town. We'll tour the town and go out to eat with some people that night. On Sunday, I have call to worship duty one last time, Harambe after the services, and a going away dinner that night. So...this is my only chance for an update.

One thing I want to write about though is the Burundian VBS. I was only able to help on Monday and Tuesday this week, but I loved it. The kids were so excited to be spending time at the church learning. And when you give them a soccer ball to play with, they go absolutely nuts. I have gotten to know a few of the kids fairly well this summer and I became their regular chauffeur for those two days. They were all given a memory verse (John 3:16) on Monday and were asked to memorize it for the next day's lesson. On Tuesday when I picked them up, we practiced the verse on the way to Suckau chapel. When they got to the part about "whoever believes in him will have eternal life," one of the kids asked me what the word "eternal" meant. So I began to explain to him how it is a life outside of time that has no end. I think my exact words were, "It will be a really, really, really, really, really long time." Then we talked about what it meant to live with Christ in heaven and how that works. I explained what Christ did for us on the cross and told them about how heaven will be absent of pain and trial and how everything there will be perfect. When I said this, the little boy with me looked down at his knee which he had fallen on and scratched up recently after falling from his bike and asked me if his wounds would be in heaven. To which I promptly responded, "No way dude. No scratches in heaven."

I will never forget the look that overwhelmed his face in that moment. He got so excited about heaven and the thought of riding a bike without fear of getting hurt. And it hit me how great his questions were. This kid, probably 8 or 9 years old, is trying to figure out Christ, his sacrifice, and his eternity with him in heaven. Sure, they were little questions that we learn in Sunday school, but I think adults forget to pursue the fundamentals of their faith far too often. We get so wrapped up in theological debate that we forget who Christ was and what he did for us. We forget that the Gospel is not a theology. It is the means through which we grow in our relationship with Jesus. The Gospel is not religion. It is Jesus. Don't discredit childlike questions. For example, if a Jehovah's Witness comes to your door and quotes Colossians 1:15 as being evidence that Jesus was a part of God's creation rather than God himself, what are you going to say? Because your Sunday school lesson is not going to sound too convincing at that point. You need to know Scripture that is going to make it clear that Jesus was and is God. You need to know why we can trust in the Bible. You need to know these things for an answer. Simply claiming a fact without evidence gets you nowhere. Granted, words may not change hearts, but at least you will be able to rest in the fact that your heart knows the answers and they are affirmed in God's Word. I think that as we get older, we believe that we simply become smarter. Well, I'm 20 years old and I already know that isn't the case. It takes work. Don't discredit childlike questions simply because you are too old for them. These are the things we need to press into. Because they are not lessons to be memorized, but internalized and lived out.

I finished my last day at Greenlife Landscaping today. The weather was beautiful and cool and I spent the day pruning plants and cutting down branches. Easy cheesy. It was a great way to finish off my summer employment. And I am deeply grateful to Cory and his brother, Chad, for giving me the opportunity to work part-time this summer and make a little money on the side. They have been a huge blessing to me.

In regards to my last post about the pulley, I feel like there are two things that need to be said. First of all, I got a phone call on Tuesday from Will Walker (the associate pastor) and he gave me a B+ grade on my pulley. Also, he personally called Lane (the guy in the video) and rebuked him for his obviously faulty criticism of my masterpiece of engineering. So there's a fact to boost my ego. The other thing I wanted to clarify is the reasoning behind why I am consistently referred to as "Firth" in the pulley video. When I first arrived in Omaha, Will did not know my last name. So he started calling me Colin Firth, like the actor. His goal was to get through the entire summer never learning my name. About two weeks in however, I accidentally slipped up and referred to my family as the "Huber family." He was pretty upset and immediately had a discussion with me about how I always need to be on guard against deception from the Evil one because of my carelessness. But for some reason, that name stuck. And regardless of whether or not people knew my real last name, I became "Firth." My missional community even thought that was my real name for a while. Seriously. So now the video probably makes more sense. That is, if any of this makes sense in the first place...

This will most likely be my last post before I am back in Texas. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement this summer. Be in prayer for my mom as she travels up here on Saturday and as we make the 15 hour drive (probably through Sunday night/Monday morning) back to Victoria. It has been an astounding summer on every level and I will write a lengthy reflection on my time here when I get back home. Until then, I love you all! And I'll see you soon!