Boy, oh boy, my second week was a busy one! Last week I had
Bible School, a funeral, and a weekend conference. It just goes to show that
life doesn’t slow down even if it is only your second week in a new place.
Let’s start with bible school. It was a really good week
overall. I enjoyed seeing how another church does their bible school compared
to previous experiences with it at my home church. Sarah was the ‘teacher’ of
the class and I was the ‘helper’ for the sixth, seventh, and eighth graders.
Since I was unsure of their format and still new, Sarah taught the first two
nights and I taught the last two nights. This worked out really well I thought.
I was really surprised how quickly I came up with an idea for the first night I
taught. In a short amount of time my lesson came together and I felt ready to
teach the kids. Wednesday night came, the kids arrived, and it was time to
teach. I didn’t think I was nervous
until three new kids showed up to the class (including a pair of siblings) and
I realized everyone was hyper! The class dynamic was completely different from
the previous two nights. Keeping their attention for twenty-five minutes was
going to be a challenge. I went through my lesson just as planned and nothing
majorly wrong happened. Overall, I was happy with what happened in the lessons
both nights. Thursday night was not as much of the lesson that the curriculum
called for, but instead an overview of the week, especially since there were
kids absent for multiple days.
Also in this week I saw a lot of ministerial life which I
have never experienced before. This started with my first hospital visit with
Ben and Sarah on Friday (of my first week). We visited Martha Mast who was the
first female elder at HM church in the 1980’s and lived her life to serve the
Lord. Unfortunately I did not get to meet this inspirational woman that I heard
so much about because, Friday evening, after our visit which was while she was
sleeping, she passed away. I was with Ben and Sarah that evening when they got
the call and from that point started to wonder when the arrangements would be
made. It was decided for the viewing on Tuesday and funeral on Wednesday. Ben
and Sarah knew Bible school would have to be canceled for Tuesday night. (After
a short meeting after church it was decided not to add Friday night because not
enough volunteers could be there to pull it off.) Seeing this side of death in
a church was interesting and necessary. Tuesday night and Wednesday morning
provided for me an opportunity to see how another church does viewings and
funerals.
What better way to top off a week of bible school and a
funeral than to go to a conference. Friday morning I headed to Detroit,
Michigan with Craig and Linda Miller, an elder and the church treasurer
respectively. They were to be delegates at the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite
Conference Annual Sessions. While this trip did not start out as planned, Ben
and Sarah were supposed to go but due to the unexpected death of her uncle,
they went to PA for a funeral, it was an enriching experience. I learned more
about the conference, specifically, what it does, the people in it, and where
it is going. I enjoyed meeting the other people there and discovering what is
happening in Detroit. It also helped me to learn more about God and God’s word.
Worship was very intentional in this setting and I appreciated its abundance.
Not only am I glad I could go to this experience for the obvious reasons but
also because it allowed me to become closer with, even just two more people in
the congregation. It was great to share that end to a full week with them.
