Family & Friends,

In Rwanda we were to minister to 100 street kids on three days.  I tried to picture 100 Portland street kids in one room and nothing but chaos streamed across my imagination.  Would they have knives, be on drugs, pick a fight with the old guy?  As I prepared to speak on the Parable of the Soils, my imagination pictured four kids acting out the four seeds/  We found four to help us.  One scared young boy looked like he was on death row as the translator explained his role.  Another tall boy could not wait to be thrown from the farmers seed pouch.  Our team acted out the tromping and birds (1st seed),  the withering sun (2nd seed), and the choking thorns (3rd seed).  To my amazement the  100 street kids were attentive and looked quizzical if not interested in the lesson.   The first seed crouched after he was tossed, then went flat when trampled and then stayed stiff as the birds carried him off.  He was perfect, but did not realize when his part was finished.  He stayed flat on the ground right where the birds dropped him through the whole lesson.  The fourth seed sprang out, ran to his spot and quickly crouched as a seed.  We all laughed, but the street kids figured some seeds are faster than others.  The fourth seed grew tall and produced a great crop.  To our further amazement, a week later the kids remembered the four soils and knew that God wanted them to accept the good seed of the gospel with hearts like good soil.  Some of them did.

G