My Roswell Vacation Bible School experience began by saying hello to some familiar faces from last year and meeting new ones. The kids gathered on the Westminster playground, until we could group them in their classes. As Bible School was about to begin we moved the kids from the playground to the sanctuary. Along the way I found John Hemmerlin on the ramp to the sanctuary with a young girl in tears. He had been consoling her on the bus ride from the Boy’s and Girl’s Club to the church. She was very emotional and unsure that she wanted to be at Vacation Bible School. I aided John in his efforts to encourage her and between the two of us we got her convinced to come to the sanctuary. While getting to know her I found out that she loves music and crafts. She spotted Laurel standing at a microphone as soon as we sat down for opening. She asked me if we were going to sing and if “that girl” has a pretty voice. I said, “Yes, she has a very pretty voice. And she loves to sing too.”
As the morning continued we found out that our new friend, Lailynn, has some pretty serious medical issues. And she must follow a very strict diet. Her stringent diet would be a struggle for most adults much less a ten year old girl. She told us that she brought her own lunch with her. (We always feed the kids lunch after VBS, before they return to the Boy’s and Girl’s Club or home with their families.) She asked Rich if she could call her mom to see if she could eat the lunch we had prepared for the kids instead of her packed lunch. Rich spoke to her mom who was wonderful and explained her daughter’s very serious condition and confirmed that she needed to eat her packed lunch.
When lunch time came around the rest of the kids were eating hot dogs and cookies and drinking kool aid. By now Lailynn was visibly upset that she had an ultra-healthy lunch while the other kids were enjoying hot dogs. I found her sitting alone on the steps leaving the fellowship hall. I talked with her briefly and then asked if she might like me to ask if Laurel would play her a song on the piano. She didn’t hesitate at all. She was excited to hear Laurel play. I got Laurel and we headed to a room with a piano. Lailynn listen and watched as Laurel played a large part of Amazing Grace that she has memorized. We even sang along together. Lailynn left when the bus headed back to the Boy’s and Girl’s Club in great spirits.
As we discussed Lialynn’s situation after Bible School Rachel very quickly volunteered to eat a healthy lunch that fits Lailynn’s diet, with her in the room with the piano over the next four days of Bible School. So Rachel, Laurel, Lailynn, and I will be eating lunch together and sharing music as well. I feel blessed that Laurel is here in Roswell. Music heals, and God has certainly blessed Laurel with the gift of music. Lailynn left Vacation Bible School with joy because Laurel ministered to her using the gift that God has given her. And I am so proud of Rachel. She stepped up with enthusiasm and set a plan in place to be a friend to a girl she had only just met. Great things are happening in Roswell.
NLPC Mission Team 