Union Dues

The Canteen at Dundonald High
(photo courtesy of www.dundonaldhigh.co.uk)

During my first week in Dundonald, when I was reading over my weekly schedule for the first time, I came across an item that read, “Tuesday: possible support for Scripture Union at high school.”  Maybe you’re familiar with Scripture Union, but I had never heard of it before.  It almost sounded like a small independent country, or something that I could join that would guarantee me a 15-minute break every four hours and a few extra holidays.  Deciding that it would be better to keep these unintelligent reactions to myself, I decided to ask a couple people about SU, and I got a couple of vague answers.  So I went to the Scripture Union planning meeting and asked my question again, and I got a slightly less vague answer about an after-lunch club where kids can ask questions about Christianity.  I pictured myself as the awkward member of a panel or the person sitting behind a table with pamphlets and a bowl of sweets.  Yet again, I kept this to myself.  Another good life choice. 

After my first SU meeting, I began to figure out exactly what it was that I had signed up for.  Here’s the usual routine: I meet Johnny and Keith, two youth ministers from different churches in town, at the school around lunch time. 

[Side note: although I still don’t understand the ins and outs of the education system here, I know enough to tell you that a “high school” is not quite what it is in the States.  There is no such thing as junior high here; kids take an intense exam here when they’re 11, and that determines where they will spend the rest of their academic career until university.  Grammar schools are for those students who score well; high schools are mostly for those who don’t score as well.  It’s often assumed that most high school students won’t go to university.]

Anyway, the first thing that we do is make our way to the cafeteria (or canteen, as it’s called here).  We spend a few minutes walking around to the different tables, talking with the students and reminding them that they can come to the SU club whenever they’re finished eating.  Then we go up to one of the classrooms to set up.  The students slowly start to trickle in after about 5 minutes, and we just spend some time hanging out and talking.  Then we play a game, and we finish off with a short lesson about the Bible or Christian beliefs.  There are always sweets for the kids, too, as they leave.

It’s definitely a stretching part of my week, even though it lasts only about an hour.  It’s always a bit daunting when you feel like you’re fighting your way up the narrow walkways in the canteen and when you step in and interrupt people’s lunchtime conversations.  Sometimes there’s laughter, and sometimes there are just blank stares.  Some people mumble an excuse about having to go play netball right after lunch, while others just look closely at me and demand, “Say my name again.  Say my name with your American accent.”

But then they show up at the classroom door, one by one or in clusters.  There are the short but vibrant conversations.  There are also the times that I unexpectedly run into students in the shops; there are the girls that smile at me when we pass each other in Ballybeen.  There are the students that haven’t said a word to you but will suddenly stop you in the middle of the canteen, smile and say, “I saw you.  I saw you running past the bus stop.”  And slowly, week by week, friendships are formed in 20-minute intervals.

Don’t get me wrong: sometimes I feel like an afternoon will be a complete failure, that the students are just counting the minutes until they get their sweets at the end.  But other times there will be unexpected successes, like the time we all had a connect-the-dots competition or the time we just sat in small groups and the kids asked us any question that they wanted.  “What is God?” someone asked, and “Are you afraid to die?”

And I suddenly realize that, even though I often don’t feel prepared or competent enough for this, Scripture Union has become one of my favorite parts of the week.