Early this morning, the students awoke to leaders shouting demands that they had only 15 minutes to get their work clothes on and get on the bus. At the end of this rainy day, the students had worked one of the hardest days of their lives in extremely wet and muddy conditions, doing the unglamorous work of clearing thousands of pounds of brush and sticks. They were consistently working under the idea that there would only be two meals that day and that we would be working hard until nightfall for two consecutive days with only two 15 minute breaks each day. When it came time for meals, they were told that their pay had been reduced to cover the cost of their debt, room, transportation, and tools. What was left was a paltry sum of money to feed their entire family. The initial joy of working as a team quickly turned less fun when a family of four only had only enough money to share a meal by splitting a bagel four ways, 3 small slices of ham between them, and a couple of apple slices each. What made it more difficult was to be surrounded by food in abundance but not able to afford it. After their 'last meal' of the day of maybe 200 calories per person, the idea of having to work yet another grueling day with so little food was beginning to test some of the students.
On the bus ride home, one of the students who had been through mission training before said that what was giving him hope was the idea that we leaders were simply hiding the fact that there would be a feast waiting for them when they returned home. I challenged him to try and not break the 'game' and instead do his best to imagine himself in the circumstances of someone who had no hope of a feast waiting at the end of the day. What would he put his hope in then?
It was past dark when the students got back home and they were pleasantly surprised to be able to take warm showers (after getting a whiff when entering the bus full of dirty, wet, sweaty students, we leaders definitely appreciated them getting showers as well.) After cleaning up, the exhausted students gathered and could smell the feast being prepared, and rumor quickly spread among them about the upcoming dinner. The leaders of each family were called in and they saw the amazing spread that they had been smelling – crusted chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls with butter, pizza, green beans, salads, strawberry lemonade, and chocolate pastries for dessert.
But before they could get too excited, they noticed the prices posted underneath each dish and were told how much each family had to share among themselves. When they realized the money they had would only be enough for one slice of chicken and a small scoop of mash potatoes to share between four people, the despair of being desperately hungry and so close to a feast but not able to partake of it really hit home. They had to go back and tell their families the unfortunate news. For many students, they would later say that this was the lowest point of their experience.
After reconvening and praying over the food, we then shared the good news with the group. The entire cost of the feast had been paid for on their behalf, and that they could partake of it all for free.
It took about 90 seconds for all the emotions of anger, relief, joy, and sheer exhaustion to be expressed by the group, but then they ate what must have tasted like one of the best meals they have ever had.
That night, I was able to share the ‘joy’ that I had watching the families struggle through these trials, because inside I secretly knew about the feast that was waiting for them at the end, even if they didn’t know it themselves. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we have the joy of knowing that the trials we face in this life are only temporary, and that God has gone ahead to prepare a room for us. We know the way home. As Paul states in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” I expressed what made me sad was seeing the conditions of the desperate people we were about to meet at the migrant camps, and not knowing whether they knew the good news, that God had prepared a feast for them and that they could eat of it for free.
Before bed, we sat around and told stories, sang songs, and laughed with pride about all the difficult trials and experiences they had gone through that day. Many students said that during the next day of work, they would be much more suspicious of the leaders so as to not get tricked again. They all slept well. That is, they did until 7:30am the next morning when they were roused to the sound of banging pots and were told they had 10 minutes to get their work clothes back on and get on the bus, being docked 1 peso for each minute they were late. While sitting on the bus just seven minutes later, looking bleary-eyed, morning-haired, and wearing their damp shoes from the day before, they were told that work had been cancelled for the day and we would be staying home for breakfast and a quiet time with God. Ah, it’s good to be a youth leader. :)
Leaders: 2 Youth: 0
Seth
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