Part 39 (1/2)
To her surprise, the boy showed up at their six o'clock meeting There were a lot of teenagers, and Reverend Allistar said many of the people were from his congregation. Christy and Gemot had their hands full with more than forty-five children. Tracy, Sierra, and Katie came in later to help out, which was a good thing, because when Christy gave the lesson and told the children how they could become Christians, thirteen of them raised their hands. Gemot and the other team members went right to work. counseling the children while Christy started the craft for the others.
”It was amazing,” Christy said when their team scrunched back in the minivan so the pastor could drive them to the station. ”The lesson, the invitation, everything was the same as the two earlier meetings, yet this time thirteen kids responded. Why?”
”That's part of what they told us in training,” Doug said. ”Our job is to be faithful to present the message of salvation through Christ and then trust G.o.d for the results. His Spirit moves sometimes when we're not looking. Altogether in the meetings today, we had eighteen people who wanted more information and four people who prayed with us to give their lives to Christ.”
”Did you give me that list of addresses?” Reverend Allistar called over his shoulder as he drove.
”Yes,” said Doug, ”I think you put it in your office on your desk.”
”Right.” the pastor responded. He parked the car and turned around with a look of delight on his face. ”You have done so much today in helping me to further the ministry in this town. Thank you, thank you.”
They each shook hands with him in turn after they got out of the van. Christy felt like they had really done so little. She had had fun, actually. It was a bit wild at times, but all in all she thought it had been easy and fun.
As soon as they were on the train, Christy turned to Sierra, who was seated next to her. and asked, ”Do you know who the four people were who made commitments to Christ? Was one of them a teenage guy who was at the drama this afternoon?”
”No, they were all women,” Sierra said.
Christy silently prayed for the mystery guy and for the children who had said they wanted to be Christians. About twenty minutes into the train ride, when everyone else was involved in a conversation or asleep, Sierra asked Christy, ”Do you think you could do this all the time?”
”What, you mean work with kids?”
”Yes, and do outreach work like this.”
Christy thought a moment and said, ”You know. I think I could. Maybe I've found my niche.”
”You did seem quite natural in there,” Sierra agreed.
Christy struck a muscle-man pose the way Katie had earlier. ”I am children's ministry woman.”
Sierra laughed. ”I don't know what I am yet. I like the drama and everything, but I don't know if that's my strongest point.”
”What else do you like to do?” Christy asked.
”I like to write and make up stories.”
”Maybe you should be a writer,” Christy suggested.
”You know, I was thinking about writing a story about a princess and how she was looked down on because she wasn't very good-looking. Actually, she was ugly. She gets locked outside the castle, and the peasants are all mean to her. Then one person shows kindness to her, and in the end they find out she's a princess, and she rewards the person. What do you think?”
”I like it,” Christy said. ”You should write it. This sure is the place for inspiration, isn't it? I've been dreaming about knights and princesses while we've been at Carnforth Hall too.”
”It's also the place for thinking about marriage,” Sierra said. ”This PO Box stuff is getting harder the more I watch other people pair up. You know, I'm beginning to wonder if there really could be somebody out there for me.”
Christy smiled at her freckled-face, clear-eyed friend. ”I'm sure there is. You will be a treasure for any guy to discover.”
”Thanks for the vote of confidence, Christy. I guess I should just be patient and see what G.o.d has in mind, right?”
Christy nodded. But her thoughts were rapidly traveling back in time.
”h.e.l.lo in there,” Sierra said, waving her hand in front of Christy's face. ”Where did you go?”
”Oh, I was just thinking about last summer. My family went camping, and we were hiking along this mountain trail that cut through the middle of a forest. My dad was next to me, and he held out his arm for me to hold on to while we walked down this path that was shaded by a canopy of huge trees.”
Christy glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one else was listening. She leaned a little closer to Sierra and continued her story. ”My dad comes across kind of gruff most of the time, but every now and then his tender side shows through, and he does or says things that just level me emotionally. So here we are, parading arm in arm down this trail, and he says, *One day I'll be walking like this down the church aisle, and I'll be giving you away.'”
Sierra's eyes opened wide. ”What did you do? I would have started to cry right there.”
”Well, I almost did. It was so incredibly tender, the way his voice came out all rough and whispery at the same time. And then he said, 'Christina, I know you'll be wearing white on that day. I'll never be able to tell you how proud I am of you.” Christy blinked away a tear. ”And then from out of nowhere there came this wind that made all the trees start to shake their leaves. You know how it can sound like applause?”
”I know; I love that sound.” Sierra said. ”It's like that verse about all the trees in the field clapping their hands for joy.”
Christy nodded. ”Then my dad said, *You're surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, Christy. Just listen.' So we stood there together, arm in arm, listening to the wind in the trees. Then my dad said. *They're clapping for you, honey. They know a true princess when they see one.'”
Now Christy and Sierra were both crying, with slow, silent tears rolling down their cheeks.
”I am so glad I've been saving myself for my future husband,” Sierra said softly. ”That is, if there is a future husband for me somewhere. The peer pressure is for such a short time. And being married is like...” Sierra paused, searching for the right word.
”Forever,” Christy said.
”Yeah. Forever.”
When Christy and her other teammates arrived back at Carnforth Hall at the end of their outreach, they joined all the other teams in the chapel. Even though it was late, everyone was wide awake, enthusiastically sharing stories of what G.o.d had done that day. The room seemed electrified with excitement as, for more than an hour, the team members took turns sharing their stories with the whole group.
They could have gone on for another hour, but Dr. Benson stepped in and closed the meeting by giving final details of when each of the teams was leaving for its ministry destination. Some were scheduled to depart in the morning because they had a longer distance to travel. The Belfast team wasn't leaving until later in the day. Their train ride would lake them to Stranraer, where they would board the Sea Cat, a modern, high-speed ferry that would take them directly into Belfast Harbor at six o'clock that evening.
”You'll be met by the Reverend Norman Hutchins and his wife, Ruby.” Dr. Benson read from his list while Doug quickly wrote down the names. ”They have received a fax from us with your photo. Doug, so they'll be looking for you.”
Dr. Benson went on to the next team and read their itinerary. Christy thought perhaps she should have written down some of the details for their trip. All she remembered was that they had to be ready to leave Carnforth Hall at eleven o clock. From there, she could rely on Doug to lead them to Belfast.
As the meeting drew to a close, Christy's new friends from Finland. Merja and Satu, came over to say good-bye. ”Our gioup leaves for Barcelona at four o'clock in the morning-, so we had better say good-bye now. We're so glad we met you.”
”Me too.” Christy returned both their hugs. ”Have a great time in Barcelona, and I'll see you back here for the last two days of the conference.”
All over the chapel, people were hugging, laughing, crying. Some were gathered in small groups, holding hands and praying for each other. Christy felt sure G.o.d was about to do something incredible with each group.
The next morning breakfast was served at seven o'clock. Christy thought it seemed noticeably quieter in the dining room since two of the teams had already left. The Amsterdam team was scheduled to depart right after breakfast. Christy and Sierra had their suitcases packed and were ready to go.
Just as Christy took her last spoonful of porridge, Dr. Benson walked into the dining room and scanned the students' faces until his gaze rested on Christy's. He strode over to her and said, ”May I speak with you a moment in my office?”
”Sure.” Christy gave Katie and Sierra a shrug of her shoulders and followed him out the door. She couldn't help but feel she was in trouble. Or worse, what if it was bad news about something at home, like Avril's call?
”Is everything okay?” Christy asked as soon as she was seated in the chair in front of his huge wooden desk.
Dr. Benson took his seat and picked up some papers from his desk, which Christy recognized as her application. ”Yes, I'd simply like to ask you a few questions.”
Christy swallowed, and a bit of oatmeal caught in her throat. She began to cough.
”It says here that you speak Spanish.”
Christy nodded and tried to stop her cough. ”I... I took it for four years in high school.” She kept coughing. ”But I'm not fluent.” The irritating tickle continued.