As many of you know we at WAM have a summer kids program. Every day, Monday through Friday, about 50 kids show up at 10 am and stay until 6 pm. It’s crazy, chaotic, fun and challenging to the 10 or so volunteers and workers who have agreed to take this task on. ( I question their sanity!) The kids get to do fun things like....make silly hats...
.....float homemade boats...
...sing in the microphone....
....and play with sidewalk chalk....
As you can imagine , summer in the inner city can be a challenging time. It’s hot, it’s boring. There are no neighborhood pools, mom often does not have transportation to take kids to do fun things, most often mom is caught up in trying to survive and keep housing, food, utilities, etc stable. Notice I say Mom , mostly because Dad is long gone or not involved much. I am not aware of one park with playground equipment in our neighborhood, not that it would be safe to let your kids go play there if there was one. Here is a picture of our nearest park. Hot sun and grass, fun, fun, fun.....NOT!
Summer camp, vacations, sports camps, music lessons, enrichment activities…. things that kids in the burbs do all summer cost money. Not a priority in the city. Survival is the utmost priority for our families.
But the main reason that we have a summer kids program is because of one little girl that I will call Christina. A couple of years ago, Christina was a regular fixture at WAM. She was about 10 years old then and showed up everytime the doors were open often by herself and especially if we were having a meal. She would hang out most of the day at the local soup kitchen, where the creepy single guys hung out too, because she had nothing to do and nowhere to go. Christina was told that she had to leave her house every day around 9 am and was not allowed to come home until 9 pm because her parents were involved in questionable activities during that time. So there she was, a 10 year old, roaming the neighborhood all day, begging to stay at friends houses, eating at the soup kitchen, fending for herself. Eventually people caught on and she did receive help. I am told she is doing well in foster care with a family in Sylvania. But her story kind of stuck with us. There are a lot more Christinas out there. Maybe not in such dire straights but struggling none the less.
So, with the help of the YMCA, the Sophia Quintero Center and the Northwest Ohio Baptist Association, we have a summer kids program. Most weeks we are blessed to have mission groups from all over the country coming to do VBS with the kids in the afternoons. Here is the one that was here last week. They were awesome!
This week our mission group cancelled. They wanted to help out closer to home since they are from the tornado ravaged south. Understandable. But that has made this week difficult and hectic for our workers and volunteers.
In spite of the chaos, they have been patient. They have worked long hours and have come home exhausted. ( I know this because two of them are my kids!) They have...
put up with wild kids...
cleaned up throw up...
made numerous runs to the dollar store...
gone without lunch.... tried to track down absent parents who did not show up to get their kids...
put numerous bandaids on numerous kids...
put up with big needs and little resources...
had to be very creative...
hugged...dried tears...
shown love...
shown mercy ...
shown patience...
shown perseverance...
shown self control...
gotten messy...
gotten wet….
All in the name of Jesus...
All because they know what the alternative is for these kids.
All because they get the big picture.
I think that’s pretty amazing!
Feel led to help? There are still two weeks empty, without a mission group. Do you know any groups that are looking for a place to serve? Let us know! Want to volunteer for a day, a half day, a half hour? (are you crazy?) Come on down! Most of all help us out by praying for peace, safety and fun for the workers and children, and that they would “get it” that Jesus loves them and we do to.
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