Wednesday, October 01, 2008

oye! my head hurts!

I'm not sure why I have a headache...but the following sure didn't help it any.

Tonight was Darly's confirmation class. She insisted that I come in for the first part of it, which should have been okay...

But they decided to do a presentation on World Vision. For anyone who doesn't know, World Vision is one of the child sponsorship programs. They showed the kids two videos about the program. The first one showed a family with 6 children who sponsor another 9 kids! The message I got out of it was "If we can sponsor 9 kids on our budget everyone of you should be able to sponsor at least one kid." But I think it was the second video that got me the most upset... the message it seemed to be saying was..."You're lazy rich americans and we're poor so you should help us" Seriously the video had kids asking "How far do you have to walk to get water for your family?" and "The average American teen spends $101 per week, that much can send a child in Africa to school for two years."

Now don't get me wrong here... I'm not upset with the folks at World Vision. I mean this is their job to get folks to sponsor the children. What I'm upset about is that this presentation was shown to the confirmand kids. Why are they showing this to the kids? It isn't as if the kids can go sponsor anyone. Are they trying to get the kids to guilt trip their parents into becoming sponsors?

GRRR!

And then to top this evening off I had the mother of one of the children in my Sunday School class tell me off for embarrassing her child. I had come up to the child after service on Sunday because I had noticed that she had accidentally taken on of the textbooks that we were not supposed to let the kids take home. All I said to her child was that they weren't supposed to take the books, she could return it next Sunday. But apparently the way I said it made the child embarrassed and now she doesn't want to return to Sunday School (a problem for her because attendance is required!) I told the mother that I thought I had made it quite clear in class that they weren't allowed to take the books...I mentioned it a lot at the beginning of class because my "arguer" kept asking why they couldn't take them and couldn't understand why. I also reminded the kids before they left to turn in the books. So I was a bit shocked to see this child with the book when I did.

I know that sometimes I have a tone to my voice that comes off as not so nice...but I am awefully sure that I did not use any such tone with this child. I just went and asked my kid if I sounded mean...she says nope. So the only thing I can see is that the child is suffering from severe teenage embarrassment (and should probably just get a grip!) sigh!

no wonder my head hurts!

5 comments:

  1. I'm sorry you had to deal with the cranky mom at church.. it sounds like a miserable way to end the day! :(

    Thanks for the sweet comment on my blog... prayers are always appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  2. WOW...you sure had a day on Sunday. You can't keep all parents happy, I wouldn't worry about the parent.
    Also, World Vision video. They show similar videos at my church. I'm always torn because I feel that it's my duty to help these people out, they need help. However I'll be honest, sometimes I think...man get a job. Ok, I don't think that about people in Africa or starving 3rd world countries, just when I hear about it in the US. I know, it's horrible. As a Christian I shouldn't have that thought, I guess it just proves I'm not perfect. Not that I ever thought I was. HA!
    Hope the headache is better.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well, call me a bad person if you will (or if your other parishoners will anyway!), but sometimes I think that other countries just seem to think that America should always bail them out. Of course, then when we do, it's never quite enough and oh yeah, we shouldn't get involved in anything else to do with their country. Personally, I think the charity should start at home. Help out the starving kids in OUR country first. Because there are plenty. And I agree... it's totally to get the kids to guilt trip the parents I think. Oh yeah... and if I was a non-working teen who had $101 to spend a week... well, lets just say I probably would have saved a lot more as a teen! I didn't have that kind of money until I started working, and by that time it meant buying gas, etc. Plus, you know, at minimum wage... it took a LOT of hours to earn that kind of money!

    I would say the teen was being a drama queen - which most teens excell at. And her Mom clearly fosters that behavior. Try not to let it bother you and take care of that headache :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. take two tylenol and blog in the morning. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. As a World Vision Sponsor... I will tell you that its the best thing for this family (mostly the kids) but I get teary too. We just got a letter from Aliya yesterday and she is now able to go to school because of our support. She was not going to school before we started supporting her. It's an amazing feeling when you know that your LITTLE BIT ($35 a month) is supplying her family with neccessary things to live. Its amazing even. And the blessings that my family has received from it... Priceless.

    ReplyDelete