Jesus is for Gangsters Too!

The first week of teams is gone and it was good week. We roofed 4 ¼ houses in White Swan, hosted Kid’s Clubs at two housing projects, and had Tuesday night Bible Study. The team in Warm Springs also had a good week!

This week at Bible Study, our lesson was on Noah and how just as the safe place for Noah’s family was in the ark, our safe place is in Jesus. One of our crafts involved a picture of a child that is glued on a picture of an ark, and one of my guys decorated his picture so that the child looked like a gangster. He has a fascination with gangsters, and left to his own devices would likely become one. When we were discussing the craft, he was showing me the gangster and I asked him, “Do gangsters need Jesus too?” He looked at me, slightly perplexed, and said, “Yes.” Throughout the night, he kept emphasizing that Jesus is the safe place for gangsters too. Although a small thing, it made me really happy that this guy, who really wants to be a gangster, also recognizes that everyone needs Jesus.

Last night (Monday), we had a special meal with the rising 6^th graders who are leaving Children’s Ministry and going into the Youth Group. While I was happy to see them maturing and taking a greater leadership role, I was also kind of sad that they won’t be in my group anymore on Tuesday nights. They are a good crop of kids and I’m proud of them.