Last night I was asked to speak to the campers at one of the Main Sessions. I spoke about Joshua and the challenge he had in front of him to lead the people into the Promised Land after Moses had died. The goal was to show the kids that God will never leave you and will guide you along your journey in life. For many of these kids the only journey they know is school, study, school, tests, school, and then more school.
The only real time in their life they have to play an instrument, a sport, or really enjoy life happens before they age of 12. Once they begin to study for the entrance exams to Jr. High, they really aren't faced with many choices. If you are good at academics or your parents demand that you excel in school you must abandon your love of sports and music for education. Many of the kids we see here are just so excited to be able to run around and play with other kids because they would normally be nose deep in a book. They really are having genuine fun every time they play anything.
The only real way to be good at sports is to not excel in school academically. If that happens then you must find a skill or a sport to focus on. You would then choose a school that excels in that skill or sport and pursue that with the same determination and effort as a student in regular school pursues academics. In this society though, if you are relegated to choosing that path it doesn't mean you are embraced by society. Rather you are looked down upon for not having the ability to succeed academically like everyone else.
This is the pressure these kids face and this was my audience.
To preach to Chinese students, or any non-English speaking culture, you must have a different preaching style. This preaching style requires that I say 1-2 sentences and then the translator will repeat the sentences back in Chinese. To ease this process I had sent my sermon 2 weeks prior to coming to the leader of the camp. That way the translator had time to look through the message, get comfortable with it, and figure out the proper words to say.
As I ate dinner last night before I preached and the translator Fanny approached me. She wished me luck tonight as I preached and was sorry she couldn't translate for my message.
What!!!!!!????
Apparently the leader of the camp sent her my PowerPoint presentation and not my actual message. She thought it was a forward of some kind and she never got the actual sermon. Because of that, she didn't know she was going to translate my message. Are you kidding me!?
So about 10 minutes before I went up to preach they asked another Chinese translator to do it. Her name is Pam and she is a sweetheart, but she had never translated a sermon before. Needless to say it was very difficult with many stops and starts. I felt very naked for the first time in a long time speaking in front of people. If hadn't been for pictures of Cherie, Aniston, and Pachino it would have been brutal, but they saved the day!
I have an increased respect for the men here who preach like that on a weekly basis. TI is very, very, very hard. However, I'm glad I had a chance to do it and I hope I can do it again believe it or not!
The co-leader of our Family Group, Chad, pulled me aside afterward and said that he was sorry the translator thing got messed up, but "trust me, the important parts came through loud and clear".
That is what you call God's message being heard regardless of the obstacles that are thrown at it. Debbie Kryger from our Parkview Group told me that in her dorm alone, several girls said they were so glad to hear that God loved them and that He is always there with them.
So take that Satan!
Even through you the confusion of language barriers God's love shines through. I'm so honored to be representing not only Parkview here in Taiwan, but also to be used as God's voice for these kids. It is very humbling and I never get tired of seeing kids start to "get it".
Continue to pray for these kids as they are asked to grow up very fast in their life. Pray they can be kids too and most importantly learn to have a child like faith in God.
Thank you all for your support and prayers.
p.s. Vicky Update: The little girl that had her teeth broken off the first night is officially the most attractive girl on the campus, Just lat night, she was hit by a dodge ball in the first game and by the first ball thrown and it hit her...in the face . Poor Vicky! She looked so defeated on the sidelines as if to say "I just wanted to come and have fun and now my face is a magnet for injury!" However, I talked to her later and she is still having a blast! Her and a little girl named Jane have been buddies all week and taking pictures of anything and everything. Even cockroaches!!! Yuckers.
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