Maya and I didn’t want Vacation Bible School to end.
Maya, who has since started third grade, wanted one more day with her friends from the yellow group: Jordyn, Stella, Amelie, Gideon, and Christian. She wanted more science, more art, more singing, and more games on the lawn.
“Why can’t we come back on Friday?” she asked multiple times. I wanted one more opportunity to talk with all of the children.
We spent Monday through Thursday exploring the possibilities involved in being a changemaker for Jesus. We talked about asking good questions, working together, sharing and building bridges. But, in our time together, I realized something important that wasn’t in any of the leader’s guides.
From Wren, a preschooler, I learned that a changemaker makes a place for someone new.
Wren gathered with the other preschoolers on the carpet in the center of the Simpson Room. As I sat with them one evening, she offered to share her Lego blocks.
“Will you build with me?” she asked.
We worked together for a few moments before I was pulled away by another task, another detail. I promised to return, and I did. She pointed to the blocks I had left behind.
“Now will you build with me?”
The following evening she invited me to join her again in the moments before VBS began. I had more tasks, more details, and my anxiety was swirling. Are we ready? Is everybody here? Is everything in place? Where’s my pig nose? Where’s my tail? But, sitting with Wren for a moment, my anxiety melted away.
Wren made a space for me and patiently kept a place for me. My VBS experience was changed by a preschooler. In my experience, the most impactful changes begin when someone creates a space for me.
We become changemakers when we create space for each other. Positive change surfaces when we invite and include each other. Isn’t the Gospel rooted in the good news that Jesus has created a space for all of us? Isn’t His walk through scripture filled with stories of him making space for new people, for fishermen and tax collectors and a woman at the well?
I watched the blue group—Logan, Waylon, Arabella, Mia, and Lucy—bond on the first night. After closing, the girls, who attend different schools and churches, hugged. VBS creates a sisterhood! On the following night, Aaliyah joined them. I worried that she would have trouble bonding. It is difficult coming into a circle a day later than the others. But it was Aaliyah, on the final night, saying, “I’m coming back next year, and the next year, and every year.” The blue group made a place for her.
On the final night, Paisley and Mercy joined the blue group. They attend a different school and church than the others, but they were welcomed immediately. They were among the last to leave that evening, running around the Simpson Room in their bare feet with Arabella, Jordyn, Gideon, and the others, wearing my pig nose and tail. The children made a place for them.
We had more than 40 volunteers involved this year. Each of them worked to make a space for the children, and I’m certain every one of us felt like the children were also making a space for us. To be a changemaker, you have to be willing to be changed.
Genevieve reminded us that, like members of a marching band, we need to be aware of each other, set an example for others, and encourage the people next to us.
Willa and Clara, high school soccer players, told us that anybody on a team can be a changemaker. It doesn’t have to be the biggest, fastest, or most experienced athletes. A changemaker is the one who cares about their teammates, keeps a positive attitude, and supports everyone.
Mrs. Ada M., a career nurse who spent time as a school nurse, was asked who were the worst patients, boys or girls? There are no bad patients, she said. She reminded us that we are all God’s children, and we need to see God in each other. We visited that insight every night as we evolved into changemakers.
Firefighters Sarah, Dom, and Grace (yes, our Grace!) of the Cochran Hose Co. in Sewickley visited us and shared some insight into being changemakers in our communities. They were asked if they were ever afraid. Sarah said “Yes” and pointed to the words on Grace’s T-shirt: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in God.”
Courtney, of mission-based DTCare, (Paisley and Mercy’s mom!) visited and reminded us that as we follow Jesus and “love our neighbors,” we can be changemakers for neighbors all across the world.
Our visitors made a space for us, and our children made a space for each of them.
I did have an opportunity to talk to the children about being changemakers as they return to school. We talked about working together, sharing and building bridges in our classrooms, in the cafeteria, on the bus, on the soccer field, at dance class, in scout troops, at swim lessons.
I wish I had thought to share my experience with Wren and her Lego blocks. But, reflecting on our time together, I think the children understood how important it is to make a space for someone new.