Compassion for the Children

Tonight I went to the Rock & Worship Road Show at the Nutter Center (at Wright State, my alma mater). So we're talking some loud, rockin' music by The Afters, Thousand Foot Krutch, Matt Maher, Jars of Clay and Mercy Me. Amazingly it was only $10 to get in, so you can imagine the huge groups of teenagers that were there. The energy was amazing and the woofers (speakers, not dogs) were thumping out of control. We're all going to be deaf and hoarse tomorrow. But that's the fun part about loud concerts. ;)

However, I wasn't there for the music. (Though that was definitely a perk!) I was asked to work at the Compassion International table. (Their website is www.compassion.com.) I'm a sponsor of 11 year old Ana Melissa in Honduras. I've really enjoyed the letters we've exchanged and getting pictures from her that she's drawn. I look forward to developing a relationship with Ana and hopefully one day will meet her.

So this evening I got to help people pick out children to sponsor and fill out forms. It got a little overwhelming at one point - not because of the number of people asking questions or needing help, but because so many children who have been waiting for sponsors now have sponsors. It was like when you're watching Extreme Home Makeover and you get a bit choked up when you realize how much their lives will be changed.

Of course the cherry on top of this awesome evening was getting to see Jars of Clay perform Flood and Dead Man (Carry Me) live. We didn't stay for Mercy Me though, my feet were killing me and we had been gone all evening. Btw, Jason loved Thousand Foot Krutch and we'll be buying their newest CD soon so we can kill our ear drums while listening to it in the car. (It's loud, which is why he liked it.) ;)

I have to tell you two random things that happened while we were there.

First, a man came up to the table and wanted to sponsor a child in Honduras. Long story short, he's a Youth Pastor who takes groups down to Honduras with Heart to Honduras (the same group we travel with). Then we tell him we go to the Vineyard and he asks which campus. (Seriously, how many people know there are two campuses?) We tell him we were attending the Dayton campus, but we're part of the church plant in Huber Heights now. So he says he was at a party for a friend at the Dayton campus - Jeanne Lowe. I couldn't believe it, I was part of the planning for that party. I told him "oh hey, I was the one with the microphone who got everyone to sing Happy Birthday!" His response was "no wonder you look familiar!" Dayton is so so so small town!!

Second, while waiting for the elevator to go to the back parking lot of the Nutter Center (where the pep band would park) a couple of guys behind me started singing a Jars of Clay song. They hit a high note and didn't hit it very well. They explained to me that they're in a battle of the bands but they only do Jars of Clay cover songs. I asked where this battle of the bands was (in Dayton???) and they explained that they were roadies for one of the bands and all the roadies have this battle of the bands. Whomever wins gets to perform at the last concert. How cool is that? About that time the elevator stopped and we were getting off, so I had to tell them good luck and keep practicing. They laughed, thankfully.

It was just that kind of night. :)