Day 3

We woke up to another hard day of work. We got prepared for the day the same way we had the day earlier (except that we paced our bags and checked out of the hotel) and left.

At the Expo Center, we did not start the setup immediatly. Instead, we took our supplies to the other end of the bulding and go ready there. It was Sunday, so we were going to do a biker church service.

When things got going, Dad played on the guitar while everybody else sang hymns. There were not many people in attendance, but that did not stop us. After singing, another pastor got up to the stage and preached for a while. There wasn't a huge alter call, there wasn't a huge response, but I think we still made a difference.

But then, of course, we resumed with our kidz zone activities. We turned on the bounce house, gave out books and coffee and did all the other stuff we're good at. It was a long day (especially since we skipped lunch!), but not a bad one. Again we were swamped with kids a few minutes after opening and we were busy the whole day. Hard as it was, I think everybody there was glad to help.

The kids show started agan at two PM. I was almost always doing some job in between taking videos and taking soundman responsabilities. It was pretty hard, but I did both jobs okay. We mimicked the last show, but focused on a different lesson and had a few different puppets.

We had a bigger response at the end of this show than at the last one, I think. However, it didn't really matter how big of a respnse it was--in fact, Dad says he doesn't even need a response. We once were in Sturgis doing the typical outreach years ago, and we only had two kids ever attend the shows that year, and only one decided to live for Jesus. Dad was frustrated for a while, but then he realised that all the time and effort was worth that one child. Further than that, he realised that it didn't even matter if he got anyone to listen to him--what matters is that he is doing what he feels God wants him to do.

Thankfully, though, we did have several kids come to Jesus that day. And after giving out some more prizes, we ended the show. We turned on the bounce house and kepit it on until thechildren slowly left, one by one. When they were all gone, we began the rather lengthy process of loading everything into the trailer. It was a big evening, but we finally got everything together after much work. Finall, long after it had become dark, we drove the truck away and headed home.

Though we were all tired, we all felt very good about the work done and the seeds planted. And though it is always a very hard and stressful event, I must say that I cannot wait until next year.

Day 2

We got up early the next morning, grabbed a quick breackfast and headed out again to the Expo Center. We set everything back up like we had the day before and opened. Almost instantly we were swamped with kids. Twenty minutes after opening the bouncehouse I had to start a line because so many kids were there that if I let them all in, they could overweigh the boncehouse!

It Remained that way almost all day. Luckily, I had two other helpers and we took on shifts, so I got a break every two hours or so. When I did have a break, I usually spent it taking pictures or videos. Everyone was very busy. Children were taking bibles, getting temporary tattoos and eating popcorn--just what we let them do at most of the other events we go to. Lines were stacking up, and thought that meant we had to work harder, we were glad, knowing that our work in the Lord was not in vain.

Eventually, it became time for the kids show, so we closed down the bounchouse and the kids gathered around the stage area we had set up. We did the usual show, in which we had a giant full body puppet sing and dance with a song, we had Dad do a few other, smaller puppets, a memory verse, and a few other things, then closed with a salvation prayer. The kids responded well.

After that we gave out some prizes and ended the show. For a few more hours we left the bounce houses up, then closed them down and got everything ready for the night. We then left and went back to the motel to get some rest before the next big day.