Spring Cancelled, Summer Hopeful

Today as I was listening to the notices being read in church, I was startled to hear the sign-up list  to attend “the American’s farewell bash,” in about four weeks. I’ve known that there are about four weeks remaining, but to hear the announcement for our going away party made me realize that my time here is drawing to a close. However, four weeks is still a substantial amount of time, and there is still potential for growth.
    One of the ways I believe and know there is potential for growth is because of an event this afternoon. I found myself walking through Heaton Park (which I’m told is the largest park in Europe), looking for a youth worker at a church I assist and some participants playing football. I eventually found them (again I emphasize that it is a big park), and had a good time running around in the mud. It was most muddy today because of the persistent rain of the past few weeks. Today someone at church said that “spring is cancelled,” which gives you an idea of how gloomy it’s been. Regardless, I’m glad to be part of the start of this football team, because I know it will draw lads to be part of this church activity. It’s that sort of thing which reminds me that there is still time for progress.
    Also, we’re organizing and executing another holiday club, which is similar to a vacation Bible school, this week. I decided to lead the lessons, so I’ve been thinking of various ways to keep the lessons informative and entertaining. The theme is “fun in the sun,” so I chose stories from the Bible that have something to do with water, sand, the beach, etc. The first day is the feeding of the 5,000. The second day is Jonah. The third is Moses crossing the Red Sea, and the fourth is about being fishers of men. Last holiday club about 15 participants came, so hopefully more will come this time.
    This past week we read and discussed two chapters from the book Beyond Opinion. The first chapter was by Ravi Zacharias on the problem of evil and suffering. It was a lengthy chapter, but understandably so. There are many things contained in the chapter worth putting into this post, but because I can’t decide which thoughtful point he made to insert, I’ll reproduce a humorous one. The context for the quote pertains to our proclivity to make a situation worse than it really is, and think that our problems are of the weightiest proportions.

    “There is an old humorous story about a man who died in a flood in a small town where the rivers overflowed. Upon     his arrival in heaven, he walked around looking rather angry. Finally, one of the apostles asked him how it was that     he should walk about with such a disgruntled appearance in heaven. He replied, ‘why should I not be upset? Does         anybody here know what I went through? Do they have any idea of that tragedy? When the riverbanks overflowed,     there I was helplessly trying to stay afloat. Do you know how perilous a flood can be?’ The apostle tried to calm him     down. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘We’ll call a meeting tonight and gather the masses. You can share your story from your         town and your experience. Will that help?’ That seemed to calm him down. Then the man said to the apostle, ‘one         more thing. I’d like to have a question and answer time too, to answer any tough questions on how my faith                 withstood it and all that.’ ‘Fine,’ said the apostle and that evening a huge meeting convened. The apostle introduced     the speaker and said that they were going to hear a story of extraordinary proportions and he could field any                 questions they wanted to ask after he finished. As the man stood up to speak, the apostle whispered, ‘they are very     eager to hear from you, especially in the front row—his name is Noah.'”

    In conclusion, I’d ask that you keep everyone here in your prayers. Each person has a lot of questions about what comes after this program, so I’d appreciate your prayers for wisdom and direction.