A third culture...

The 2011-2012 school year has kicked off at the Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center (SCCLC). This school truly is a culture all it’s own. It is an educational institution for missionary kids from many different countries, Bolivians, and other students who desire a private education based off of an American curriculum and schedule. Some of you may know that Molly has her degree in Elementary Education and from 2007-2009 she served as the 4^th grade teacher at SCCLC. When we returned to Santa Cruz this past April we were feeling God directing us toward more ministry with our Spanish speaking churches and Molly knew that she wouldn’t be teaching full time. However, the key word in a missionary’s vocabulary is “flexibility”. As the school year was nearing the start, SCCLC still needed to fill many teaching positions. One of those positions was in the 4^th grade. A teacher was lined up, but she was still in the States raising her support. Molly saw a need and decided to help out. For the first 2 weeks of classes Molly got back into her teaching mode. I was able to help with decorating bulletin boards and grading papers. It was actually quite fun for us to work together in that setting. Praise be to God that the other teacher was able to raise the rest of her support rather quickly and she is now safely in Santa Cruz and Molly has been able to step back from charge of the 4^th graders.

We have also been able to fill the need of leadership with Jr. High and Sr. High ministry at SCCLC. On August 15^th we jump started Sr. High Bible study. We had 35 youth show up for tacos, games, and a brief testimony sharing. Each Monday night from 7-9 at the house of some fellow missionaries, we will be meeting with the 9^th-12^th graders from SCCLC. We are really excited for how God will use us to mentor these youth this year.

Our goal is to have a couple Jr. High activities each month. This past Friday we hosted an ice cream party at our house. We did a gross ice cream sundae relay where we split the youth up into 2 teams and each team had to choose 5 non-traditional toppings out of a cup. Team 1 chose hot sauce, soy sauce, bbq sauce, a scoop of flour, and salsa. Team 2 received mustard, ketchup, soy sauce, pancake syrup, and pizza flavored crackers. When I designed the game I had not intended on playing, but we had uneven teams so I got in on the “fun”. With plastic spoons in hand, the relay began and I’m proud to say that my team won! They youth were able to get those gross flavors out of their mouths with some delicious brownies, ice cream, and regular ice cream toppings. As everyone enjoyed dessert, I shared a short devotional from Matthew 5:13. I challenged the youth to think about how they felt during our relay game. Some said it was gross and they wanted to quit or they wished they didn’t ever have to take another bite. Then I asked them to think about this thought. “Do we ever present ourselves like gross ice cream sundaes?” People expect us to be sweet, but once they get a taste of who we are, they find bitterness and wish that they never had to experience another taste. I really enjoy the Message paraphrase for this particular passage.

Matthew 5:13

The Message (MSG)

Salt and Light

13"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.”

I asked the question to myself as well as the Jr. Highers. “Are you bringing out the God-flavors of this earth in your life?”

It was really fun to watch their brains work as they thought through that question. I am excited to see how they process these challenges and live them out this year.