Waiting for His Perfect Timing

For three years, volunteers have been coming to our island to do a Holiday English Camp each June. This Holiday English Camp is in a small village outside of our city. It has one elementary school. Each year, we have been privileged to teach ALL of the sixth graders in the elementary school for four days. We have used the holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and Valentine’s to tell the complete Creation to Chr+st story to approximately 100 children each year. We have also been able to send into every home a BOOK and a Son film DVD. So, after three years these 300 students are now 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. A complete generation of young people in this village has heard HIStory.

Our contact in this elementary school is a national sister that attends the Big English Clubhouse in our city. She is a wonderful national partner and an incredible M in this school. Next door to her elementary school is a VERY small, old Wesleyan Clubhouse. Since 2009, we have pr@yed that this clubhouse would provide a vibrant weekly event for the children and teens in the village. (They had been providing a weekly event, but it was weak and not well attended.) We, ourselves, had pr@yed about driving weekly to and from our city to the village to host such an event, but the details had never worked out in conjunction with our other responsibilities. We so wanted someone to work with these students more than just once a year for four days.

So, we have pr@yed and waited for three years. This week, an answer came. Our national sister shared this story:

Two weeks ago during a social studies class, she and the children were discussing public places to go and learn new things. One student gave an example of the Saturday afternoon “camp” held at the Wesleyan Clubhouse next to the elementary school. Other students were interested and wanted to go inside the clubhouse with her and have a look for themselves. They made a plan to go the following Saturday afternoon.

On Monday, our national sister asked the students if they had attended the Saturday afternoon “camp”. They said, “No.” Their parents and grandparents had told them it was only for Chr+stains, and it was not appropriate for them to go inside. So, the students asked if our national sister would accompany them the next Saturday to the event. She agreed. (That week, however, she received a phone call from the Wesleyan Clubhouse shepherd’s wife stating they were considering closing the weekly event because of low attendance.)

On Saturday afternoon, our national sister waited at the school gate under the Sakura cherry blossom tree to see if any children would come. Three boys, three girls, and two older children with their younger brother and sister arrived first. Another girl came with three younger boys. Our national friend stayed with the fourteen children, and they sang, listened to a BOOK story, played memorization games, and ate a snack.

On Monday, the students who attended the Saturday camp talked about their good experiences in the clubhouse. Their enthusiasm caused more students to want to attend.

Please remember our national sister and the workers in this Wesleyan Clubhouse. Please remember us as we prepare to lead the Holiday English Camp again this June. Please remember these children and teens as they learn more and more about HIM. May we all wait on HIS perfect answers in HIS perfect timing.