Confirmation!

So, the opening Confirmation retreat happened this past Sunday, and classes started the very next day! The theme of the retreat was ‘Out of the Jungle’; coming out of the Jungle and into life with the Holy Spirit. What do you do when you’re in a third-world country and have to set up a room looking like a jungle? You walk outside with a pair of scissors and you break and cut-down palm branches and leaves until you have enough to decorate the place! It took me at least 3 hours! The things they forgot to mention in my college classes… Did I mention that communication is horrible in Belize and the people who let us use the room for the retreat forgot to tell the janitor and he came in the morning of the retreat and took all the decorations down and threw them in the dumpster? Oh, the things you do for ministry and the things that go un-noticed… So Sunday morning I found myself taking branches out of the dumpster, and thank God Ann and Alison had some time to hang some up again!
Having over 50 kids from 10 – 12 years old can be a little overwhelming, but overall the retreat day went well. We started in the morning with a bunch of group games and ice breakers. We had a break for lunch consisting of beans and rice (as always) and then the afternoon consisted of two different sessions: one on the Existence of God and the other on Scripture and the importance of reading the Bible. We’re using a confirmation program that Lifeteen put out in the states. Jim Beckman compiled 20 years of experience leading Confirmation programs into this book, and shares with us what works best! It really is an amazing program. Sunday afternoon we challenged everyone to make a decision for themselves to follow Jesus Christ and to put God first! Yes, He created us in love, and God sent His only Son to die on the Cross for us! He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, but at the same time He has given us Free Will! We can choose to follow Him or choose not to! He is always waiting with open arms, but the decision is ours to make, and I know that I have to choose to follow Him everyday!
The Scripture session went very well too. We talked about the importance of reading the Bible, and had everyone go through their day and see how much time they spend doing different things. When kids look at a chart of their day and see that they spend 3 hours watching TV and 9 hours sleeping and 2 hours eating and NO TIME in prayer or reading the Bible, it can be a pretty powerful witness! How are we to know who Jesus is and what He thinks and wants, and how much He loves us if we’re not reading the Word that He has given us or if we do not spend time talking with Him and listening to Him?
Weekly Confirmation meetings have already begun this week as well! The topic for this week is on the Sacrament of Reconciliation! Yesterday, Ali and I led a class of 18 boys. They are going to be a lot of fun, that’s for sure! We talked about the importance of going to the Sacraments that Jesus gave us. We read in the Scriptures where Jesus gives his apostles (priests) the power to forgive sins in His name (John 20:21-23). We talked about how Jesus is really the one who forgives in this Sacrament and the miracle that takes place! Our sins are completely wiped away, and our souls are made clean in this Sacrament. We are given grace and strengthened to go forth and not sin again. We then had all the boys go over to the Church, spread out and while looking through an examination of conscience we had them write down the sins that came to mind. When they were finished, they all came forward to the Cross and to Jesus, ripped up the index cards that they wrote their sins on and threw them in a basket at the foot of His Cross. We told them that this symbolizes what happens in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. No matter how bad our sins are, if we are sorry, God completely forgives us! The sins are gone! I was almost moved to tears to see a 12 year old boy ask me for more paper and take such careful time to write down his sins. When it came time for him to go forward, he took his index cards and ripped them to shreds, one at a time. He made the sign of the Cross and went back to his seat with such a smile on His face, such a sigh of relief! You could see in the look on his face that he understood what we were trying to teach them. We have been working hard in the past week to get everything going, and I know that even if one person comes to know who Jesus is, and comes to understand the Sacraments, then all this work is worth it!