In West Philadelphia.....

N is for Now


Disclosure: I HAVE BEEN BUSY!!!!!!



Last week I had the opportunity to experience MFuge. If you don't know, MFuge (Mission Fuge) is Lifeway's mission camp for teenagers. As a teen in the youth group, I was able to attend Centrifuge but never MFuge. At the end of the week, exhausted and missing my own bed, I could honestly say that July 13 -18, 2009 was one of the best weeks of my life.

The week started with a short drive from Stafford to Saint David's, Pennsylvania. We stayed at Eastern Univeristy, which by the way is just a hop, skip, and a jump from West Chester. The college was very nice and the facilities were fantastic. Everyone was put into Bible study groups and in those Bible study groups, we also had a mission site for that week. Everyday, after Bible study, we left for our mission sites.

The first day, Tuesday, my group arrived at a a park in south west Philly. There we met some of the sweetest children I have ever known. I played wiffle ball with about six boys for almost an hour before lunch. My favorite moment was when one little girl asked me to sing a song. When I asked what sone she wanted me to sing, she said "Beyonce" . So in my best Beyonce voice I sang "To the left, to the left..". It truly was a moment to remember. The next two days we spent at schools in west Philly and then we wnt to Malcolm X Park on Friday.

After lunch each day we had a Bible story we shared with the kids. We told them the story of Jonah and the whale. The best part was that we had some kids come up and act our different characters in the story and then for the whale we pulled a parachute over all the kids, which they loved. It was so much fun.

When we returned back to EU, we had about 3 hours before Worship. The theme of the week was Move: The Faith Journey. And in our Bible studies we focused on Moses and the Isrealites leaving Egypt. Each night Will, the camp pastor, focused on a different aspect of the Faith Journey. The Faith to Move, The Faith to Stand, The Faith to Face the Unknown, and the Faith to Wait. Each night was fantastic!!!

We had to leave on Saturday and to be perfectly honest, I was glad to see my mom and my own bed. However, Monday morning came and I kinda wished I was back in Philadelphia. One thing that kept sticking with me all week was "these kids need to hear about Jesus and how much He loves them". There really is no time to lose. They live in a such a dangerous world and it's seriously a now or never reality. I hope that the weeks MFuge spends playing with them and sharing God's love makes a difference in their young lives. Because, the time is Now!!!