Inviting The Invu Kids To Church | Oceans Edge Lifestyle
By Melissa New | Ocean’s Edge Intern. Cassidy, Kyle, Justin and I have a weekly routine where we take a group of Invu kids to a church called “Iglesia Radical”. To give some context, we do Kid’s Club in the park next to the Invu Neighborhood (simply “Invu” for short). Iglesia Radical is completely Spanish-speaking and is also the church that Horizon Church is currently sharing it’s facilities with.
Bike Mob
The kids who come with us usually range from ages 8-15 and only speak Spanish. It all started one night when we invited 10-year-old Daniella to Church (the same Daniella from this blog post). We made plans to meet in front of her house the following week a half hour before church started. We thought it would be fun if all of us rode our bikes together.
The following Friday, Kyle, Cass and I rode our bikes to Invu, hoping Daniella remembered about church. Sure enough, the moment we turned the corner onto her street I hear “MEL!” Followed by a smile and hug from Daniella herself. We noticed about six or seven other kids playing in the street, so we invited them to come with us as well. To our surprise, all of them said, “Yes!” So, here we are, a bike mob consisting of four gringos and seven little Tico children, riding our bikes “Tico-style” to church. What is “Tico-style” you ask? It means one person is riding the bike, one person is sitting on the handle bars and/or one person is sitting on the ledge above the back tire. I can tell you from personal experience it is extremely uncomfortable, but it gets you there.
Church Routine
Ever since that first week we brought Daniella and the other Invu kids to church, we have made it a point to go to pick them up before service. Without fail, Daniella is always there waiting excitedly for us. I wish I could explain how much joy it brings me to hear Daniella scream “MEL” when she sees me riding in. To make it even better, many of the kids we invited that first week have been coming consistently as well. In fact, sometimes if we are a little late getting to Invu, half of the kids leave for church without us! This is such a huge encouragement because it shows they will want to go to church even if we don’t. I’m praying their excitement for church continues even after the team leaves in a few weeks.