The morning was quite interesting, as it began when I awoke to find a spider crawling on my arm! Then we went to the church to have a group worship time together before all the kids got there. John encouraged us to continue to be energetic and love on the kids, especially the ones that misbehaved and frustrated us. I needed to hear those words because I can definitely admit that there have been a few kids that have driven me nuts this week.
Today in the older kids’ group, it was my day to teach the lesson which was about serving. I told them the story found in John 21 about Jesus speaking to Peter and the other fishermen and telling them to cast their nets again even though they had been fishing all day and hadn’t caught anything. After they were obedient, their nets were so full that they couldn’t even lift them! When they sailed into the shore, Jesus was waiting for them there and had prepared breakfast for them. This is when Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him (Jesus). Every time that Peter answered, “Yes, Lord. You know I love you,” Jesus gave him a command such as feeding His lambs or sheparding His sheep. I explained to the kids that Jesus was trying to give Peter examples of how he could serve because he loved Jesus and Jesus had first served them. I really liked teaching this lesson because one of the verses in the passage reminded me how I should be serving as a college student. John 21:18 says, “Now when you were young, you went and did as you pleased. But as you grow old, you will start to let others direct your paths and you seek to serve them”. It is a reminder that as we grow spiritually as well as physically, we will gradually think less and less about our own needs, and more about the needs of others around us. It is the example that Jesus set for us by coming to us as a man and serving on this earth, even though He did not need to.
After VBS, we had a wonderful lunch at the Westin Resort, followed by painting the finishing touches on the Recreation Center. It looked great when we were done. The evening was spent at Coral Bay Baptist Church where we led the music and John preached possibly his last sermon in St. John. It didn’t really occur to me at the time, but I started thinking about how happy and proud he must be to have had seven consecutive years to come to this beautiful island and invest in the people here. It makes me hope that I can make a connection like that somewhere in the world where I can go and serve annually and build relationships like he has on this island. I was also very proud of Stephanie tonight because she gave her testimony for the first time, and the other girls and I had prayed for her before we got there. It was extra special for me to see her say it in front of this congregation because it was at this same church that I gave my testimony for the first time last year. We ate dinner after the service at this little place on the river called Island Blues. There was live music playing when we got there which gave us the idea that someone in our group should go up there with our guitar and play something. So naturally, Doug said he would do it. When we had finished eating, he went up to the stage and played a few country songs. Of course all the people at the bar loudly sang along and our group applauded. It was an experience I will never forget. The day ended with our group meeting on the beach and a few stayed afterwards to swim in the ocean until about midnight. It was so peaceful, and we just floated around and laughed and told stories. Then, it was to bed for me to get ready for the final day of VBS : ( .
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