Iron Man

Teenage boys in the U.S. struggle through a lot of issues as they make the transition from little boy to young man.  There are concerns about appearance, struggles with responsibility, questions about identity, and volumes to learn about the proper way to relate to young ladies...


For high school boys growing up on the mission field, all of those issues must be dealt with.  In addition, many have spent their whole lives in Africa and now face the prospect of leaving home and traveling thousands of miles to their "passport country" in order to attend college.  How do you prepare any young man to leave home and begin to make his way in the world?  Even more, how do you prepare him to navigate in a culture which is, in many ways, foreign to him and often diametrically opposed to the values and beliefs with which he was raised?  The foundation of his character must be sure, his vision of who he is must be clear, and he must be prepared to employ wisdom and sound judgment when facing trial or temptation.  One of the many tools that our school here, Rift Valley Academy, employs to strengthen and prepare young men for life is the Sunday School program.

In a typical month when school is in session, one week out of every month is reserved for the entire community to worship our Lord together at the local Africa Inland Church.  For the other three weeks, however, we have Sunday School followed by corporate worship on the RVA campus.  It is my privilege to be working along with several other men in the tenth grade boys Sunday school as we spend the year considering Biblical manhood in the 21st century.

This week the program was a bit different than our usual Sunday school format, because today was the annual "Iron Man" competition.  Why would there be an iron man competition in Sunday school?   In this competition each small discussion group competed as a team in tests of not just strength or speed, but also brains.  It was a great object lesson in the way that the true church, the body of Christ, is made.  Each young man brought different strengths to the team and each was able to excel in different events, just as each of us are endowed with different strengths and are called to perform different functions for the Kingdom.  Besides that, it was a lot of fun!

The 'mini-bus pull'.  That is Ted on the left in the blue t-shirt.

The log pull...how fast can you raise it?

We will soon have another opportunity to look at manhood outside of the classroom.  In two weeks we will be spending the weekend camping under the stars in the Masai lands about an hour from here.  The weekend will include a service project and a time to learn from Masai elders about the transition from boy to man and the expectations of men in their culture.  I will let you know how it goes...and if it rains!

Please keep these young men in your prayers, and pray also for our group of men who together seek to teach and guide them towards lives that are pleasing and glorifying to God.

Rick

Proverbs 2:1-8

2 My son, if you accept my words
    and store up my commands within you,
² turning your ear to wisdom
    and applying your heart to understanding—
³ indeed, if you call out for insight
    and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴ and if you look for it as for silver
    and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵ then you will understand the fear of the Lord
    and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom;
    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
⁷ He holds success in store for the upright,
    he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
⁸ for he guards the course of the just
    and protects the way of his faithful ones.