A Comprehensive View of Missions

Riding a zip line, getting covered in pudding and shaving cream, leading packing events, countless hugs from 4th and 5th graders, hikes in the woods, talking about kids in Haiti, dance parties, and lots of the fruit of the spirit, are just some of the things that filled my week this week. All this week I was at Butler Springs Christian Camp for their 4th and 5th graders camp as a Lifeline representative. I went there to lead packing events and talk to them every day about Lifeline but I got that and so much more.
The theme for their week was fruit of the spirit so every ‘family’ was a different fruit. Though I spent time with every one there I mostly spent time with the family I was roomed with, the ‘Cheery’ Cherries. I had a great time with these 7 girls, getting to know them and doing activities with them like riding a zip line for the first time, getting covered in pudding and shaving cream during messy day, and other countless fun things that we did.
Every day, they had activity time in the morning. Every day of the week they had a different activity and one of the activities was packing the “Kids Against Hunger” food that Lifeline sends to the field, so every family got the chance to pack the food. For an hour every day I got to tell the kids how to pack the food and tell them the importance and significance of this food. Then I would send the rest of the time walking around and making sure they were doing it right and talking with them. They loved packing the food and I could tell that they knew how important it was. They said they had fun and they were glad to be able to do something that would help the kids in Haiti they were learning about.
After activity time they would have mission time which consisted of 20 min of singing and 20 minutes for me to present. On Monday I told the kids about all the ministries that Lifeline has and a general overview of Lifeline. On Tuesday I talked about the importance of nutrition and schools for kids in Haiti. On these days I also told them about fun facts about life for kids in Haiti and some common French words. It was my intention to show them the similarities and differences between their lives and the lives of the kids in Haiti. On Wednesday I shared with them what happened when I was in Haiti during the earthquake and what I learned from it. On Thursday and Friday I showed a documentary that was made in Grand Goave Haiti where Lifeline is based called “When the Ground Stopped Shaking.” The kids really liked it because they were able to see some of the kids they had learning about and see the Kids food being delivered in Haiti and seeing a Tap Tap 
Then on Wednesday we did something that I thought was great. The Kids food we had been making all week, serves 6 people for every bag, each person getting only a cup size serving. For a lot of Haitians this is the only food they will eat all day. That night we went into the cafeteria and there were little bowls and little cups of water at every plate setting. Each person was given a cup of the Kids food, and that was all. The food was good and most of the kids said they really liked it. But it was not much food, especially if it was all you got all day, every day. It was a great representation even for me and I know it really drove home for the kids.
Over the course of the week, $900 was collected in offering and about 4,000 meals were packed, all by only 100 kids. This was my first week of camp and I had a great time with the kids. At this age they were really interested in what they were learning and I felt they got a really comprehensive view of missions this week.