Well, shall I say this morning began with an exciting start. As I was driving with Gwyneth to pick up Grace Konrad, I kid you not, a Golden Retriever starting sprinting across the street – right in front of me. As I was thinking of the potentially horrifying consequences of hitting this poor creature, a variety of thoughts flashed before my mind:

1) Since when do city dogs run across intersections like this?

2) Would Mr. D actually believe me if I told him that I hit a dog?

3) Is there a car I would be able to drive if Fido connects with my bumper?

4) If I hit this dog, will the young children on the side of the road be traumatized for life?

5) Is it unethical for a vegetarian to injure a dog on the way to club?

And so on, and so on. But even in this, albeit strange, situation God proved Himself good, and kept us safe on the rest of the roadways today. Speaking of these roadways, I had to drive to 5 clubs, and I was 0.5 for 5 in not getting lost (I say half because for the first club, I was not able to immediately find a parking spot). It was rough – and I had been so proud of myself because the night before I had written out all of the directions. But alack and alas, these attempts proved themselves futile.

Club One: Grace and I had gone advertising with this hostesses on the weekend. I was so excited that there was one child who came! It’s really exciting to know that not only is there more opportunity for the kids to come throughout the week, but God is sovereign nonetheless!

Club Two: To cut an incredibly long story short, I am convinced that I have been blessed with the same gifting as Lauren Ryan… Yes I was lost, very lost. I drove down the wrong street…. multiple times, and as a result we ended up a half hour late. (Whoops!) But God is good, club was so much fun, and we ended up having 9 kids total in attendance.

Club Three: When Grace and I arrived at the house, there was only one child. After some time of waiting for others, we decided to begin, and more kids continued to come. During the hour of the club, a child was biking by us constantly, and this particular child seemed pretty interested in what was going on. This club was so fun, and all of the children seemed pretty excited to return again tomorrow. The total attendance is 7 kids.

Chang Adventure (it would be ChangChang but Gwyneth is not with me this week): At the end of Club two, I was about to pray to conclude the club, when suddenly half of the children insisted on praying to conclude as well. I thought it was amazing that these young children had such a desire to pray that they continued to insist. After I finished my concluding prayer, I opened up the floor for prayer, and one at a time these children prayed. The first kid begins, and prays, “God thank you so much for the cow”, and she continues to thank God for various wildlife. At one point a kid beside her say, “And don’t forget the animal crackers”, and she continued to thank God for these things. As the children went on, might I just say I have never heard so many prayers of thanksgiving for various condiments, and snack foods (“God, thank you for ketchup!”). At a point, one of the children who had explained how she hurt her hand, also prayed that God would heal her “ouchies”. Wow! I definitely got a glimpse of what childlike faith can look like, because what the kids were praying may have seemed funny, or “small”, but it was so honest, and authentic before a perfect, loving God. Sometimes, you just gotta thank God for ketchup and horses! I love it! No matter how small our requests might seem, we can freely take them before Him in prayer, just as these small children did.

Prayer Requests:

1). Safety on the roads

2). Health. I have recently had a painful bump on my head that showed up recently, as a result of “the accident”

3). That God’s will would be done in these clubs – whether it be more kids, more follow up, or more advertising. That I would minister with an awareness of the fact that it is God’s ministry that I doing, not the other way around.

I wish I could end this post by saying something meaningful, or poignant but the reality is that last week was the hardest week that I have experienced in all of my years of teaching (for a variety of reasons). Beginning this Monday, I had no clue what to anticipate, but no matter how difficult or hard living the Christian life may seem, it does not nullify the truth that He is good, and He is a sustainer. Whether it is through a mountaintop experience or the steady climb uphill, He constantly proves Himself to be the Lord of the journey. And for that, my few sentences are but pitiful attempts to convey my eternal gratitude.

Grace Sichangwa

Hi! My name is Grace, and this is my 6th summer teaching 5 day clubs. I feel so humbled, and honored to be involved with this ministry again this year. I'm excited to see how God not only transforms the lives of those that I meet, but the work that He will do within myself. Prayer Requests: 1. For my heart - that it would be so focused on Jesus. 2. For discipline - that I would take the time for daily prayer, and devotion. 3. For His voice - that His voice would be clear to me, as I minister.