Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Every age, every tongue


God’s family is amazing! Even though I grew up in a military family - moving fairly often and living far away from aunts and uncles - family still always meant everyone together. Old (I considered my parents at that time ‘old’ although they were only mid-30’s) and everything in between. There was an age-range of 10 years between us all as kids as well. Family is the group together. I love seeing how family interacts and how this helps us grow.
Family is designed by God and is exactly what we need to help us grow in faith. So it is great to see activities that bring different age groups together to reinforce the idea of family. Both young and old have examples right before their eyes, both groups helping the other to stretch and grow. Young people get a vision of older people who are serious, loving and who can also interact with young people. They see how to live out faith in the lives of these ‘elders’. Older people are challenged by the energy and desire of youth to be active, see things in a new way, be daring and excited by the truth as it is discovered for the first time.
Every time we get the opportunity to share in intergenerational activities, we encourage everyone to take part. We also do our best to plan such activities. Recently we went to Switzerland for a weekend. It’s a six hour drive for us and we only stay about a day and a half, but it is well worth it. Church members from all over Europe gather, young and old, to play soccer and have fun as children of the Lord.
We take the time to get to know one another as best as possible, speaking several languages. We worship the Lord together in at least three languages, singing praises as I imagine it will be in heaven. And we play soccer, learning how to deal with frustration, play fair and be just, put things into perspective and give your all. We see young people jumping every language and cultural barrier to get to know one another. Older members try to be a good example in fair play. And all of us see that it is possible to live this life with Christ, having a great time. 
This past week I ran down to our Bible camp facility – shared and maintained by the various congregations in Belgium and the Netherlands, both Dutch-speaking and French-speaking – to help with one of the work weekends. 
Camp is another place where family gets together. Yes, we encourage one another in our summer
Photo thanks to Luk Brazle
sessions with Bible lessons and good teaching, placing an emphasis on our knowledge of Christ. We also have every opportunity to observe this knowledge in working as we shovel dirt, move rocks, try to explain how to get certain jobs done, put up with having to do the cleaning that no one will see, face tasks that are neither fun, nor glorious or easy and do all of this together. Young observes older and ‘old’ (do we ever really get old?) and their example. Old is encouraged by and observes the growth of young.
It is good to be together. It is challenging and encouraging to incorporate this unique design – intergenerational activities and learning. God calls it family. 

For more pictures of the Swiss soccer tournament, check on facebook.