Community Summer Missions Project (CSMP) - Enter Intensive and Field Work

We flew into Ann Arbor, Michigan and met the rest of the team. This was the first time meeting them in person other than the brief Skype call a couple of weeks before.  Prior to meeting everyone, the challenge was to come together and function as a team.  The team consisted of 33 members of various education background, home origins, and personalities. The larger Ann Arbor team has been meeting up since February but the Austin team, where I am in,  haven’t joined until in late June.  We had a very short amount of time of a month to get to know each other personally and understand work style.  As you expect, there will be conflicts in decision making and struggles of creative control.  I want to stress that conflicts are not bad.  They are inevitable.  We all have opinions and make different judgement but I do believe that by working together we can find the best solution.

Something I was praying earnestly about was having team unity since how CSMP is structured, there will be some members in the team where I will not have much context with or interaction with.  I also prayed for future grace, since with the inevitable conflicts, that we would overcome these things and not take things personal.  That said, I have confidence that as we stick towards our goal and the mission and keep Christ in the center.   This will all work out.

Intensive:

So what is intensive?  Intensive is the week before we go into field work.  During that time, we were to have some training with the church values and vision.  This was the time where we were to get to know our team members as well.  During this time, sub teams were to get together and prepare for field work whether it be puppet team, bible studies, arts and crafts, games, and other curriculum.  If one happens to be finish, then it is expected for us to go out and help other teams.

In addition, we woke up early in the morning for physical training exercises which included physical and cardio activities.  At the end of Intensive, there was an eight mile run we did as a team.  I ran long distances before but it has been a while.  But I made up my mind to run where the slower team members were at to encourage them.  I was not the only one.  To encourage comradary and unity, those who completed before everyone else were to run back to those who yet to finish.

** Enter Field Work: **

We offering an English program called Excel English to international children from ages 4 - 12.  The purpose of these classes was to teach English and to share the Gospel to these kids. Our team was split to smaller teams that will offer curriculum classes such as the puppet team, crafts, bible study, and games.  When we are not in our curriculum, members were to go help out classes that were split by age and grade level.

I was assigned to Frog Class which were the 4-5 year old kids.  I love them.  They are incredibly cute and well taught by Ms. Woori. How the class generally flow is that there would be a morning meeting where the weather, day of the week is discussed, and kids would share how they are feeling. Afterwards, the kids would go to different stations such as sensory station, play with the building blocks, make some arts and crafts, or read some books.  Meanwhile, the teachers would pull students out one by one and teach them English alphabets and simple words.

I think from what I learned in my experience there is that it is easy to play with kids, but hard to love on them.  What I mean by that, as a Christ follower we called to love all peoples. But when it comes to kids, when they are not cooperative or fighting amongst themselves, my patience becomes tested.  I am astounded by how Ms. Woori and Principal Michelle as they were really good at redirecting the attention of the children and resolve conflicts.

As for sub team, I was assigned to Games Team with two others, Spencer and Tiffany.  The week before we start our field work at Excel English, teams are to prepare for our curriculum.  We were to prepare  the game schedule for the entire program and procuring the items for our games.  The proposed schedule was made with every day containing 2 games and a backup because sometimes you have to make adjustments based on how the kids may react.  Each day there would be a different person were to lead the gym sessions.

Some days we finished games early than usual or decide to skip a game entirely to the back up or end it altogether. Every week, we would debrief about how the past week was and provide feedback to each other.

The first week was absolutely hard.  Some games didn’t go by the schedule and it was difficult to get the kids attention.  The days were hot and so the kids were incredibly exhausted by the first game.  After some adjustments, it got better over time.  We included more breaks and brought water out for them to drink rather than wait until after the period.

Another challenge were the team dynamics.  They know this, but our personalities were different.  I was more of the people oriented side that enjoyed interacting with the kids and keeping up with their energy.  My partners were more of the task oriented side and would not often enough match the energy of the kids.  I recall some creative control struggles too and in making decisions. However, despite the differences, I knew that I needed them as much as they needed me.

For example, I would be pretty bad at explaining some of the games and they would fill in the blanks on things I missed.  Or I would lose control of the kids too and they would help bring them together.  Sometimes I may lose track of time interacting with the kids and they would come and get me for gym class.  One of them is good at observing and making suggestions and improvements.

One of the hardest day is when my Frog class went outside for their own gym class.  Normally, they are not scheduled for outdoor activity. That is up to the teachers.  But when they came, they disrupted our field a little and we had to set it up again.  This delayed our initial gym class, however, by doing so would distract the kids and we would lose control of them.  I felt really bad because I felt that I did not support the MC leading gym time.  But it was a work in progress that we were learning and improving.  I remembered in one of our debrief meetings that we had a good honest talk and I think that turned things around.  What I realized that everyone was acting out of inadequacy, hence the reason in doing many things that may come across as “controlling”.

** Parting Thoughts: **

All and all, it was a great experience thus far. 10/10 would do it again.  I am thankful for the partnership we have with the CSMP team, the teachers, and volunteers that made this possible.

Great work was done. Many kids came to know Christ towards the altar call in the end of the program. In the last day of the summer program, the kids were to showcase what they learned.  I am going to miss these kids very much as many of the students may not be in the US for a long time.

When it comes to children ministry, it can be hard to see the “fruits” or results of our effort in a span of a month.  However, as a Christ follow, it comes down to that I am not the one that can change people.  I am no savior, but it is the believe that the things we do God will use.  So, with that mindset, it is humbling just to play a part of it.

“[Paul] planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.”

1 Corinthians 3:6