Broken Bread Meal...and A Drive to a Turf Soccer Field in Grand Rapids

Last week at CU we had a little different kind of dinner in a season of end of the year parties and banquets...we ate the meal that people around the world eat when they are able to find food distribution from an NGO or USAID program in the midst of hunger and poverty...

It's called the Broken Bread meal and several folks from our ACTS campus chapter and other globally concerned students ate this simple porridge in paper bowls on the floor in our student union...to be completely honest, it was prepared a bit thicker than it probably should have been, and for almost everyone in the group it was pretty tough to choke down...a lot of spoons were mixing it up over and over again as we read stats about the vast numbers of people dealing with malnutrition and the direct correlation between rising oil prices and food costs in the third world...it is honestly a pretty sobering and guilt-inducing time when you realize that you are caught in the struggle that you are used to food tasting good and wanting to be thankful as others are around the world for whatever God has provided...

As we sat eating and pushing our food around, I flashed back to a day a couple summers ago where I spent a morning at a little pre-school in rural Zambia...we spent part of the morning mixing porridge with some local women from the village who were selling it to the school to support their families and taking care of orphans of their own children who had passed away in the AIDS pandemic...and then we poured out good sized portions, honestly bigger than the ones most of us took last night, into plastic bowls that we hand-delivered to a packed classroom of 2-4 year olds...over the next couple minutes, we silently watched almost every single child devour the food put in front of them...in fact, most of them abandoned their spoons and licked the bowl clean as they finished eating the porridge filled with the nutrients their bodies craved...the image of the remnants of this meal on these African children's faces has stayed fresh in my mind over the last few years...

I also couldn't help but think of my own kids and my friends' children reactions if they were served this meal...I am more than certain that the bowl wouldn't have been clean...in fact it most likely would have been greeted with strange faces and cries of disdain when they tasted it...in reality, they are the outward expressions of the internal feelings we had sitting around on the floor the other night, even as people who do have a real concern for those who are hungry all over the world...

These African experiences and memories can often seem removed from every day life in west MI...unless one gets connected with kids who live differently even here in Grand Rapids...this past Saturday our soccer team here at CU hosted a clinic for some kids who are part of Sabaoth Ministries, one of our urban partners for our first year experience program at CU...there is a group of Hispanic kids who love soccer and play on an abandoned cement lot in their neighborhoods who are regulars in their after school program...as we thought about our end of the year team banquet, we wanted to do something different...this has been a season filled with unusual challenges, disappointments, and times of growth through difficulty...athletic banquets in general tend to highlight victories and stroke the egos of those who are most physically gifted on successful teams...in many ways, we long to be a different kind of program, and hope we'll do some things that demonstrate those values when we have a chance...

So we decided as a coaching staff that this year's banquet day would have a different feel...we'd still honor our best players, thank players who worked hard to improve as athletes, and thank our seniors for their investment in our program over the last four years...but we'd include some kids who might not have been to a banquet before, or owned a pair of soccer shoes, or ever stepped on a turf field in our celebration, with the hope that it would become more of a day that reflected how Jesus might view how we think about the gifts we've been given to play this game we love and how He might want us to throw a party...

(I was thinking about Luke 14:1-24 as a backdrop for this decision...)

So I had a couple guys meet me and we drove our cars down to the Sabaoth ministry meeting spot in south Grand Rapids...we each took several kids with us as we headed off to a local indoor soccer facility our team regularly practiced at...as I was driving my little mini-van east to Kentwood I quickly picked up that many of these kids hadn't been to this part of town before...and it wasn't like me where I had just moved into the area and was still getting thru the list of places to eat and visit across the community...we saw planes getting ready to land and I heard that they'd never been to an airport before...it was kinda fun for me to be able to point out things to them as we drove...maybe I was playing the guide role for one of the first times in west MI, to be honest...

And then we got to the MVP soccer facility...and we had a great time playing soccer games, running them thru some footwork drills, watching them play small-sided games, and getting to teach and play the sport we love to and with them on a surface that I heard some of them comment was "amazing"...and I thought of how I have spent hours and hours and hours evaluating and protecting and complaining about the grass and turf surfaces my teams have played on in literally thousands of practices and games over the last thirty plus years...and I was taken back to the first time we played as a high school team on field turf and how much we adored that night...I still have pictures in my head of these kids in sweater vests and jeans and old tennis shoes playing soccer with joy that simply put I don't usually see in the kids I regularly coach with new adidas gear from head to toe...and the hour of time we'd been able to secure ended way too quickly for the ten year old kids and the 20 year old college players...

We then drove back to our campus and almost 20 Latino pre-teenagers sat at banquet tables with parents and college players...and ate their hearts out...to be honest, eating for students on our campus is often an exercise to complain...the food isn't what they'd like and they are sick of seeing similar choices...and all of us who talk like that are more than little out of touch in reality...I watched these young kids devour the food out on the buffet table...and go up more than twice to get their fill of that which seemed like a pretty amazing spread from their perspective...

We presented each of the kids with a ball signed by each of the guys on our team...and despite the fact that I doubt any of our signatures will earn any of them big money on EBAY in the days ahead, they loved receiving an Adidas ball with names on it from some of the most advanced soccer players they've ever gotten to meet in person...and the after banquet pictures with our guys mixed all in with them defined for me what I hope our program will do to serve the local community through the use of our gifts in the months and years ahead...

So what did a Saturday lunch and a Monday dinner remind me as another school year draws to a close? It reminded me of how those who hunger physically and spiritually are crying for me to respond...the voices are far, far away and within a short drive...And I was reminded once again that very few things engage my spirit more and give me Kingdom joy than being with those who are hungry...hungry for what their body needs and hungry to show me what life is really like and how much I need to be in relationship with those who God calls BLESSED all throughout the Scriptures...

As this year ends I look forward to some rest and will be dreaming of the days next year when kids from south Grand Rapids play soccer at halftime on our lush game field on the CU campus...and I share a porridge meal with the kids in Africa who love the very same game we do as we all hunger and thirst for the Bread of Life and Living Water Jesus longs to provide for all of us...

MATTHEW 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

A Closing Prayer for LENT

May we bless the world with comfort. Comfort when a child is suffering and no parent can help, so that we may become the arms of a God who heals. Amen

May we bless the world with peace. Peace for the persecuted and those who struggle to provide, so that we may become the feet of a God who brings good news. Amen

May we bless the world with love. Love for the ones who only encounter the demons in others, so that we may become the heart of a God who feels every human affliction. Amen

May we bless the world with wisdom. Wisdom to pass wisdom, so that we may become the mind of a God whose dreams become reality with the breath of a word. Amen

And the blessing of God, who provides comfort, peace, love and wisdom, be upon us and all that we love and pray for this day, and forever more. Amen

Seven Myths We Believe About Students by TIM ELMORE

With each generation that grows up, we become accustomed to new standards and lifestyles. Some change is good; others, not so much. Personally, I am only for change that leads to improvement. Too often, our changes are drifts away from what’s good and healthy. Sadly, we don’t even notice. For instance, today, very few adults (parents, teachers, coaches, youth workers) expect a seventeen year old boy to be a mature adult. After all—he’s still a kid. He plays video games, texts his friends and goes to movies and malls. Yet, this is a shift from, say, a hundred years ago. Less than a century ago, seventeen year olds led armies or worked on a farm, or in a factory. They were expected to do so. Their parents needed them to produce something and they discovered they were capable. Slowly, we bought into the idea they are not ready for this kind of responsibility. And, of course, teens are willing to buy into that idea, too. Kids love the idea of adult autonomy, but not the idea of adult responsibility. In time, the standard just sinks lower.

The New Normal Shouldn’t Be Normal
Let me suggest seven changes that have occurred over the last century that created myths we’ve become accustomed to:

1. Myth One: Kids are unable to make commitments.
Today, students have short attention spans and get bored easily, but teens are indeed able to make and keep commitments. Centuries ago it was normal to get married at 15.
2. Myth Two: Kids shouldn’t have to work in high school.
Today, a minority of teens work outside the home. They don’t need to; mom and dad supply a nice allowance. Three or four decades ago, most of us worked a job at 16.
3. Myth Three: Kids can’t be expected to have adult conversations.
Most think—they’re just kids; how can we expect them to interact with grown ups? A century ago, kids attended a one-room schoolhouse and had to interact with all ages.
4. Myth Four: Kids should have whatever they want.
Fifty years ago, parents were proud to give their kids whatever they needed. Today, kids often get whatever they want. It’s the new normal. Going without is not an option. This is sad.
5. Myth Five: Kids shouldn’t take any unsafe risks.
Society is consumed with safety. We won’t let our kids do anything without a helmet and adult supervision. But risk is part of what makes our nation great and part of all progress.
6. Myth Six: Kids can’t wait.
Today, kids have short attention spans and little patience. It’s a Google reflex. But delaying gratification is part of maturing. As a kid, I grew as I waited for things I wanted.
7. Myth Seven: Kids should not be expected to produce anything.
We unwittingly bought into the idea kids are only consumers, not contributors. But I’ve watched teens use their gifts and generate something—and they come alive when they do.

Do you remember the story of “The Emperor’s New Clothes”? It was the tale of a king who went out into his monarchy without any clothes on. Everyone was afraid to say he was naked—except for one guy. Just like me saying the water tastes bad in Dallas, it’s time we woke up and acknowledge the truth. We cannot simply get used to a lesser version of kids. I believe the day has come that we declare the reality of our situation:

We have done a poor job as adults, in getting this generation of kids ready for life. If they flounder, it is because we’ve focused on preparing the path for the child instead of the child for the path. I believe in this next generation. These kids are great and they’re capable of much more than we’ve expected. We have not led them well. We’ve protected them instead of preparing them for life as adults. It’s time we get them ready to lead the way into the future.