A Lessons Learned In Vacation Bible School
A Lesson Learned
He taught me a lesson I will never forget, yet I never even got his name. My entire summer had been spent scurrying around the grounds of the pristine church pulling weeds, mowing grass, and performing other maintenance duties. Most of this work was laborious and uneventful, but on this particular July morning, I learned how helping someone is one of the most satisfying lessons in life.
The day I started working at the church, my boss made it clear that I was to do what I was told and not interact with those on the church grounds. Vacation Bible School was underway that week and I was reminded not to interact with anyone. I was working in the front of the church when I saw an African-American man in ragtag worn jeans and a green Philadelphia Eagles jersey walking in a frantic manner towards the church. I could hear him muttering something under his breath. A few older women, who were supervising the children, saw the approaching man and confronted him together, seemingly fearful of what he wanted.
As I continued working, the man started asking, …show more content…
He isn’t around.” The man looked downtrodden but accepted her answer and asked if he could wait until the priest was back. To my incredulity, the woman bluntly replied, "Oh, he probably won't be back for a while,” even though I had just seen the parish priest less than 15 minutes ago. The look on the man’s face was one I shall always remember. It looked as though all hope had been drained out of him and all was lost. He put his head down, trying to stay humble and polite, and turned to leave. The women seemed oblivious to his apparent distress. As easy as it would have been to stay silent, I couldn't stand seeing such a destitute human being denied help. So I didn’t stay silent. Ignoring my boss’s directives, I walked over to where they were talking and asked the man if he would like a bottle of cold water which I was carrying in my cargo
He taught me a lesson I will never forget, yet I never even got his name. My entire summer had been spent scurrying around the grounds of the pristine church pulling weeds, mowing grass, and performing other maintenance duties. Most of this work was laborious and uneventful, but on this particular July morning, I learned how helping someone is one of the most satisfying lessons in life.
The day I started working at the church, my boss made it clear that I was to do what I was told and not interact with those on the church grounds. Vacation Bible School was underway that week and I was reminded not to interact with anyone. I was working in the front of the church when I saw an African-American man in ragtag worn jeans and a green Philadelphia Eagles jersey walking in a frantic manner towards the church. I could hear him muttering something under his breath. A few older women, who were supervising the children, saw the approaching man and confronted him together, seemingly fearful of what he wanted.
As I continued working, the man started asking, …show more content…
He isn’t around.” The man looked downtrodden but accepted her answer and asked if he could wait until the priest was back. To my incredulity, the woman bluntly replied, "Oh, he probably won't be back for a while,” even though I had just seen the parish priest less than 15 minutes ago. The look on the man’s face was one I shall always remember. It looked as though all hope had been drained out of him and all was lost. He put his head down, trying to stay humble and polite, and turned to leave. The women seemed oblivious to his apparent distress. As easy as it would have been to stay silent, I couldn't stand seeing such a destitute human being denied help. So I didn’t stay silent. Ignoring my boss’s directives, I walked over to where they were talking and asked the man if he would like a bottle of cold water which I was carrying in my cargo