My time in Muskegon

The next week after the camp I started to write sermon earlier, because from Wednesday to Saturday there was a Christian music festival called “Unity” in Muskegon. And I was so happy that I could go there. I like music and I really like the bands which were there because I know some of their songs. I always listen some online radio from the USA with new contemporary Christian music and I know that later I will hear it in Slovak too, because some our local bands will translate their texts. I was so glad, that I could be there and listened Francesca Battistelli and many other famous bands.

In addition, in that week I had a fun in pistol club where took me the family I stayed with. It was my first time I hold some pistol. We went to visit another family where I stayed before. I visited also the American Red Cross and Tom told me how they are volunteering there with his wife. I was there for a while and I could see how it’s all working. (I hope that you have a smoke detector and that it’s working – because I heard about lots of fire in houses here in the USA.) On Saturday I left earlier from the festival “Unity” and we went to a church trip to Whitecaps baseball game. So I saw real baseball. And it was funny, because it was superhero night and children has costumes of superheroes and during the breaks there were children on the playing field playing some funny games. It was till night and at morning I was preaching, but I was prepared and my sermon was printed, so I think it was OK. Oh, and I’ve almost forgot, that I was singing Gospel in Slovak to remind them Slovak language and Slovak service.

The next week I had more free time. I stayed with the same family and they took me to Michigan State University. I saw the campus and stadium and the area and it was so huge. I was surprised that so many students use bicycles. It’s so clever to use them. I played miniature golf or something like that. (I don’t know if it’s the right name for that.) But I lost. I always lose when I play some game with Lauren. But she said that she had played golf before. I joined the men’s group for one time. And I was in St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church for some meetings too. I joined to their “Arts camp” which was on the another week.

At that camp (the another week) there were small children and we were creating some things, singing, dancing, praying and listening Bible stories. I was playing the flute and then piano and keyboard. Usually we started with the song “He’s got the whole world in his hands” and we put children’s names in the song, so we repeated it many many times during the children were coming to camp. Adults did a great job with that camp. It was well prepared and children had a lots of beautiful staff which they made. They sang and danced at Sunday service, but I didn’t sing and play with them, because I stayed in my church preaching again. So during that week I was writing sermon too. Oh, I forgot, I was writing two sermons – one normal and one for children. But that children sermon was different from the others I had here. During that week I was reading some post and articles and I have read some views why pastors are glad, that children come to Holy Communion and some similar articles about children and church and in one of them there was written something new for me. I used to say, that children are our future, but I was wrong. There was written that children are our present and I realized that it is truth. Children are part of our congregations, part of our services, part of our church. Moreover, I realized some clever studies from my school that children should see, feel, know and experience (and so on) things which are happening in the church, in service, which they are learning. So that was the reason why I rewrote my children’s sermon (my notes to children’s sermon) and tried to prepare it in some creative way. So that they could understand and remember everything little bit more. I hope, that they did. Adults said that it was a wonderful children sermon. (I knew that adults love children sermons. :D) And I have some photo from that sermon. So try to guess what was the theme.