earlier this week, I went to Gorham, Maine, to participate in the opening day of their VBS program.  It wasn't exactly a show I was doing, and I wasn't alone.  Three of my students, Emilee, Liz and Cailyn met me there.  We were doing demonstrations / lessons for the kids as part of a rotation of activities.  This is different from what I normally do, and different from what my students normally do as well.

We did four presentations throughout the morning, as the kids rotated through in their age groups, and boy they really pack the kids in.  Our first group was 40 fourth and fifth graders.  We did a quick presentation of juggling props and styles, as the kids and I did spinning plates, devil sticks, balance board, ball juggling ( solo and partner), clubs, machetes and axes.  Then we broke the kids into smaller groups to let them try to learn three ball juggling.  The three girls did a great job teaching, but it was still pretty chaotic.  We realized that, since the groups were going to be getting younger and younger, we needed to change our format.  Like I always tell the kids, in ministry the 'F' word is flexible.

from that point on, we continued to demonstrate the various props.  Instead of ending with a three ball workshop at the end, we stopped after each item and let some kids try basic tricks with spinning plates, devil sticks, and the balance board - with a spotter, of course.  As my students demonstrated clubs, knives and axes, we obviously didn't let the kids attempt these.  This format worked well and held everyone's attention.

the three students who met me at Life Church are used to doing a program that is a clear Gospel presentation, so they questioned the value of what they did.  I assured them that there is tremendous value in making kids (or anyone) feel welcome at church events.  If the kids we performed for saw that church is a safe place with caring people, what we did had great value.