Saturday Mentoring

For the past year, John has worked with an inner city ministry, mentoring school-aged children on Saturdays. Last Saturday was the first session of the year, and I joined John and the other volunteers on a field trip. We took approximately 130 kids to a movie...at Times Square. This involved a very long subway trip, with very excited children, and many many many trips to the bathroom. It was hard work, but I really enjoyed getting to know the kids. I was with a group of 18 first and second grade girls, most of whose parents are recent immigrants from the Dominican Republic. We had one itsy bitsy girl in our group (I could hardly believe she was in second grade) who knew no English. I was so grateful that my Spanish wasn't too rusty!

When the girls found out I was getting married in a few weeks, all 18 of them started jumping up and down and asking if they could be flower girls. It was very sweet.

Later in the day, one little girl stared at me at length, her face deep in thought. Finally, she piped up: "You don't look like you're from around here...are you Canadian?" I tried so hard to keep from laughing.

By the end of the day, both John and I were completely exhausted. I had forgotten how much energy elementary school-aged kids have! I'm really grateful for the opportunity to work with the kids and share the gospel with them. I'm sure I'll have many entertaining stories to share with you as the school year progresses!