My group has been going to the Northeast Church of Christ every day of the week to play with the kids of the neighborhood surrounding it. The neighborhood is a little impoverished, so the church provides activities for the children so they do not get in to trouble. One of the activities that we did with them was playing with water balloons. As most people know, water balloon games eventually turn into a big water balloon fights and it is impossible to restore order until they run out of balloons. When the kids ran out of balloons they turned on the hose and soaked us completely. It was lots of fun until Ishmael, a 14 year old participant of the water games, got his hands on some more water balloons and decided to hurl them at us point blank as hard as he could. Now, I had been talking to Ishmael earlier and he said he loved to play baseball. This kid had an arm. I mean it was ridiculous. He hit me right in the chest and I had a red mark for a few days. I wasn’t his only victim though; he had hit Jack and David in the head too. At the time it made me a little angry but when I think back about it, I realize that these kids would be out on the streets in gangs or doing drugs and getting into trouble if they weren’t able to come and have a good time at the church with us. I would be happy to take a water balloon to the chest if it means keeping these kids off the streets.
I miss you Mom, Dad, and Heather!
From, Nathan Arkwright
Nathan,
ReplyDeleteDad and I really enjoyed reading your blog! It sounds like you are having some fun and interesting experiences. You have made a mature insight into the benefits from something as simple as a water balloon fight. We are proud of all you and the other youth are doing and can't wait to hear everything!
Love, Mom & Dad