We started the evening off reading Acts 16:16-34 and discussing where Paul and Silas were led on their missionary journey.
Then I took out two carrots, two eggs, and some instant coffee. I asked one of the kids to use a butter knife and fork to try and cut one of the raw carrots. It didn't cut easily! One of the kids then broke open one of the eggs and we saw how its thin outer shell protects its liquid insides. We looked at the coffee grounds then too and talked about how, as they are, they don't taste very good and aren't very impressive looking.
We set three pots of water to boiling then and put the carrots, the second egg, and the coffee each in their own separate pot to cook for a few minutes. While they were boiling, we read over the parts of Alberto's testimony again from Sunday, as some of the kids were not in the sanctuary to hear it. We told them that Alberto was a former member of FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a group of rebels famous for their inhumane acts of torture, rape, and even murder in Colombia.
We asked the kids if they remembered Bob and Noel Rich, the missionaries who visited a few weeks back. We told them about their son Mark who was also a missionary and who went missing in 1992 while serving the Lord in Colombia. Alberto and five of his FARC friends were his captors. After being held prisoner for 3 1/2 years, Mark and his two missionary companions were killed by Alberto and his men.
We read then about how Mark and his friends responded to their imprisonment and how similar it was to the way Paul and Silas responded to theirs. More importantly, we read about how Alberto and his friends responded to them.
Now it was time to check on our carrots, egg, and coffee. After draining the carrots, we asked one of the kids to once again use the same knife and fork as before to try cutting the carrots. They were soft and much easier to cut this time. We cooled the egg under running water then and had one of the kids break it. Inside the shell, the egg was hard-boiled. Next, we poured the coffee into a cup and passed it around for the kids to smell. Some of them even wanted to taste it.
Each one of our subjects faced the same adversity...boiling water, but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. After being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. But after sitting through the boiling water, its insides became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique however. After they were in the boiling water, instead of them being changed, they changed the water.
Paul and Silas and Mark and his missionary companions all faced the same adversity...imprisonment. They could have chosen to be like the carrots, entering prison strong in their faith and unrelenting or unwilling to give up. But then after a time amidst their circumstances, they could have become hopeless, weak, and not so sure of their faith or the God they once served so fervently. "I can't believe this is happening to us. We're servants for God. He's supposed to be blessing us, not letting harm come to us. Where is God's protection? Where is He? He's just left us here to rot in this prison. Maybe He's not sovereign and in control of all that happens to us after all. Poor us!"
The prisoners could have entered prison like the egg, with a malleable heart, one that God could easily shape and form into something that would give Him great glory. But then, after a time in their difficult circumstances, their outsides still looked the same, but their insides became hardened and stiff with bitterness and resentment. "I can't believe we were here to serve God and do His work and this is how He repays us...with prison sentences! Why God? What's the point and how on earth can you use this for your glory? We sure wasted our time in following the call to be missionaries. We're no good sitting in this jail cell rotting away like this. If we ever get out of here, we're going home. Forget this! We serve and this is the reward? I don't think so!"
Paul and Silas and Mark and his friends did not choose to be carrots or eggs though. Instead, they chose to be like the coffee beans. They changed the hot water...their captors...the very people who were bringing them their pain. Coffee reaches its peak flavor at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. The hotter the water gets, the better the coffee tastes. When things were at their worst for Paul and Silas and Mark and his friends, they got better and, as a result, they made things better around them. Because of their faithfulness and steadfastness in their difficult circumstances, the very captors who made their lives miserable became their brothers in Christ and received the inheritance of an eternity in heaven worshiping the King of Kings and Lord of Lords right beside them. Hallelujah!
We ended our time asking the kids to think about the last time they faced a difficult circumstance, a trial of some kind in their lives. We asked them if they responded in such a way that made them a carrot, an egg, or a ground coffee bean. We challenged them to keep those visuals and examples at the forefronts of their minds the next time they faced storms of adversity in their lives.
