Day 6

Like usual, we woke up to shower at Waves. However, this morning was a little bit more alarming than the previous mornings. We were just sitting down to our cereal (The Fiber Challenge as I call it) when P. Steve bursts into the room yelling, "Get up, we have to go, my daughter just texted me saying 'where are the Americans, we've been sitting in assembly for twenty minutes'."

So, obviously, the staff at Craigavon Sr. High had told P. Steve to bring us to the school at the wrong time. Consequently, when we arrived, all the kids in the school were sitting down on the gym floor. We walked inside and pretty much improvised a skit on the spot. It was about "peer pressure." You know, we all walk together as a group, trying to convince an innocent Christian to do "worldly" things with us like smoke and party and fight and slash tires. We actually did really well, if I do say so myself. Then we went to the classrooms for the day. I was the only guy this time, along with Meghan, Jo, and Genna. Quinn had to switch groups because Chad was taking the day to study in the library about how to develop Messiah's annual mission to Northern Ireland. After a few classes, we went to "The Canteen." It's the cafeteria. I ordered a regular sized meal, thinking that I would not get another chance to eat (it was only 10:40 AM). I was wondering why not many people got food. I found out later that that time was just for a quick break/optional snack, and that the true lunch time was later. As a result, I didn't eat much during lunch. Those kids probably thought that I was a typical gluttonous American during the first trip to The Canteen though.

The classes throughout the rest of the day were great. I got to tell a few groups of kids about my trip across America. They asked a few questions. Kids asked about cannabis and if I thought it should be legalized. Different members of our group had different things to say which I thought was good. A girl asked what we thought about sheep in Northern Ireland. Some kids asked questions related to American spirituality and our own faith. One teacher was persistent about giving us opportunities to share our opinions and beliefs about religion. I always want to say deep things and really engage kids, but I know there are certain things that if I would say them, they'd take it the wrong way, so that was kind of a challenge.

A secretary informed me that P. Steve had called the school and told us to walk back. using my keen sense of direction, I proudly navigated our group back to the church. At the church, I think it was Jo who brought up how she wished we didn't have to give the opinions of the church that we stayed at. Like we can't talk about our opinions on smoking, drinking, etc, but we have to give the Church of the Nazarene's stance on those issues, which is very conservative. I said that I agreed with Jo, and I said to give the opinion of a specific church was not necessarily to give the opinion of the Kingdom of God. Chad felt struck pretty hard when I said this and we talked about it for quite some time down in the kitchen/basement. My favorite part of the trip overall was the discussion and continual dialogue we had with each other.

The little kids arrived at church after school for our VBS-type program. We had a blast with them. KB dominated crafts and games, and Quinn dominated with storytelling, like usual.

Later that night, we went to the Annexe. The Annexe is an after-school program that is actually run by the Jr. High School. I think they just want to give kids a safe place to go away from the influence of drugs, alcohol, sex, violence, etc. There are tons of snooker tables, foosball tables, craft areas, video games, etc. We played indoor football for at least half an hour and then I worked on a hemp bracelet for my roommate Blake who is back at Messiah. I then joined some kids for a game of football inside the school. I was one of the last people picked, but my team enjoyed playing with me. They didn't mind that I wasn't as good as them at football. We had fun playing, anyway, and they asked me a lot of questions about Messiah College. The Annexe was definitely one of my favorite experiences of the week. It got us at work outside of church and in the true, transparent social lives of the kids.