Late Nights

We are full on in for it with carnival preparation. Last night was one of those 3 am working-til-you-drop kind of nights. High on glue, hands sore from spray painting and cutting, legs wobbly from hours on the stilts. But personally, I love working at night. There's something about being awake until the dawn that makes me excited. And everyone is more funny when they are tired. I think there's a point where people hit a wall though. Which was about ten minutes to 3 last night. But we pressed on and in total got so much completed. We started with cutting foam. What else would we be doing? The puppets are almost completed. It is the best thing to see them getting ready to go out the doors on carnival days. We have worked on these things so dang long, I think I'll cry when they are finished. But last night we cut out 15 helmets, cut them in half, glued them together, glued them to the heads. They look so cool. The bodies are starting to be painted with color, the bits we've been cutting to look like viking fur has been put on the cuff links, the mustaches have been glued on to exaggerate the masculinity of these warriors.
And all this causes a lot of attention. Loud music, young people everywhere, late at night, in a church...People stop in all the time. Some stop just on the door step; some are brave enough to come inside the church; kids point and stare and ask if they can take photos. What's this all for? they ask. Carnival, of course! It is the easiest avenue for evangelism. I think we talk to more people in our non-scheduled times than we do in the hours we are sent out specifically for evangelism! Some passerby's stick around to chat, others laugh it off and walk away, some seem really impacted. It's all planting a seed though. Whether it grows or not is up to them and God. Our task is simple- share the gospel, the message of grace and truth that came through Christ Jesus, the beloved Son of God.
Nowadays we just have to be more creative with the ways we share. This generation is so unique. I know that is said about every generation, but really. Our generation, my generation, is so different. A lot of people just don't know what to do with us, or what will become of us. And that is our greatest strength. We are such a passionate and extreme group of people, unable to pin down or define. Imagine if even half of them were on fire for God. How we could change this world! So we attack that head on. We take our crazy giant puppets; and dancers and stilt-walkers; costumes of wind, fire, water. We have to stand out. We have to jar them, get their attention. There are so many other things vying for our attention in this age. What will win out? I guess that's the question, isn't it.