Tough crowd...

I'm on a missions trip in Belize right now.  Our team has been around quite a few schools now, and most high schools shared something in common: a lot of people looked like they didn't want to be there.  We stood through a couple morning ceremony items; singing the national anthem, or school anthem.  Both were always halfhearted and unenthusiastic.  To be honest, it made my heart sink a little.  Every time the half-student body droned out the anthem of either the school or country, I thought, "oh boy, this is going to be low on energy".  In a way, I was right.  I could see it in the team.  Whether it was the heat or the lack of an enthusiastic audience, the team looked a little lethargic.  So, like usual, to combat the sloth inside most people at the moment, I jumped around, and put in extra energy to my music.  It had a little effect; the leader of the band seemed to pick up a bit.  A few kids starting moving a bit.  Needless to say, my efforts didn't really work too well.

I'm fine with little participation.  But what really got me was what came during the team dramas. 

If you don't know what dramas on missions trips are, they are short skits, sometimes put to music, sometimes with lines recited.  All missions dramas share something in common: they have a distinct message about Christ or Christ-like living.  The two that my team picked out to do at today's school were titled "Chains" and "Clincher".  Clincher is a little bit of a heavier drama, including the temptations of lust, depression, pride, drugs, and suicide.  It seems that every time Clincher is performed, the kids always talk amongst themselves and snicker at the team members acting out the message.  It frustrated me to see the disrespect that the students showed, and that the important message being shares was being dismissed by a lot of people.
As part of the choreography, a fist fight between Jesus and the devil occurs (symbolizing God fighting evil).  Every time kids see this scene, they lose it.   They laugh, point.  The ones who laugh at the drama just make me want to straighten then out so much. 

The staff members didn't really help either.  One staff member introduced us as " entertainment".  As soon as she said that I felt quite insulted and defeated.  I didn't like being treated as entertainment for other kids my age sitting high and mighty in the shade. Them laughing at my team members sweating under the unforgiving sun.

Ministering to high schools is not an easy thing.  It actually can be pretty discouraging. 

Thankfully, there are a few people who feel impacted by what we have to share.  I hold on to the tears and heartfelt movements of those people to keep on going.