Long, long ago……way back to last year, December, our grade 6-7 class received some inspiring correspondence from a great distance: a group of individuals all the way across the hall in the Grade 1-2 class. From this connection several great things have quickly gained momentum.
First, in response to the letters we received, the students in Grade 6-7 enthusiastically wrote back and also happily created some elaborate Christmas cards for their new ‘pen pals’ across the hall. When we went to deliver our cards to our new friends in Grade 1-2, they were very happy to see us and receive the cards we made BUT then they spontaneously extended invitations for us to come and stay to play games, build with blocks, read books, draw & colour! We had simply planned to deliver our cards and then return to our class to play games before the Christmas holiday but instead we stayed and had so much fun connecting with the Grade 1-2 class for half an hour. Talk about Community Building!
Since then, we have been having a great time continuing to connect with our friends in Grade 1-2 every other week, enjoying books and art and other activities when we get together on Fridays. The best part of all this is how it has been mostly student led. In the weeks just before and after Christmas I heard many students asking about when we would have a chance to do reading buddies with a younger class. There is great enthusiasm among the grade 6-7 class now that we have a regular routine to connect with these reading buddies.
The rapid development of community among our class and the Grade 1-2 class is such a great example of genuine community building and hospitality. It is an encouraging example of how God desires all of us to be not simply looking to our own needs but also the needs & interests of others (Phillipians 2) and also what’s written in 1 Peter 4.
“8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one
another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
Given this example from the students spontaneously, genuinely connecting with one another, it makes community building look ‘easy’.
Let’s follow their example!