The LOL juggling troupe of seventh and eighth graders awoke in Essex Junction, Vermont on our last day of our four day ministry trip. We had two shows left on our tour of Burlington, and they were both at the church where we stayed. This made it very easy to be ready to go on time, and the lack of pressure was refreshing.
Our first show was in their English service. Being in a Methodist church, the service was more liturgical than many of the evangelical kids in LOL were used to. It reminded me of how symbolic and beautiful liturgy can be. We were give just 15 minutes to perform after the Pastor preached a shortened sermon. After we did our thing, he stated that he really didn't need to preach a sermon at all. I love it when people who have never seen what we do realize that we are more than a kids group; we are a serious ministry with something real to offer.
After the service, I met two different ladies who are sisters of old friends. As I stated In an earlier blogs, Essex Junction is the town I grew up in, so I guess it's not a big surprise I'd run into people I knew, but it was fun.
The second service was the church's Korean service. There are, it seems, a lot of Korean immigrants in Essex these days. There were actually more parishioners in this service than the English service. What a great experience to share with my students: singing in Korean, English, and at times both simultaneously. The joy was almost tangible.
Again we did a 15 minute set, but this time Sam did his eighth grade solo. He did an entire routine with his diabolo; he made no mistakes and included many tricks I had never seen him do before. He brought the house down.
Perhaps the highlight of our entire four days is what happened next. After the service, the congregation prepared a pot luck dinner of authentic Korean food. It was amazing food, and a great time of fellowship. We got to know the congregation a little; Brianna and Josiah were especially good at introducing themselves to the people and interacting with everyone. Leah and Rachel befriended some of the youngest in the church, and soon they were introducing the kids to our rabbit and birds.
Finally we headed back to Maine with memories that will last a lifetime, and plenty of dirty laundry.