Drama

1 - Isn’t it great to be at camp?

2 - You’re not kidding! No more parents until Saturday. No more chores.
            No responsibilities. I’m free!

1 - Excuse me. Are we talking about the same camp?

2 - You mean our parents didn’t leave?

1 - Of course they did, silly.

2 - Whew! Had me worried there for a minute.

1 - You really like the idea of getting away from home, don’t you?

2 - Sure do! I guess that bit about "no responsibilities" was taking things a little far.

1 - Just a bit. We do have responsibilities here, also. They’re just different.

2 - You’re right. Just like now. You and me are supposed to be setting the stage for this
                week, telling the kids what the theme is.

1 - Go right ahead.

2 - Go right ahead, what?

1 - Tell them the theme.

2 - (pause, make faces trying to remember what the theme is)

1 - Is there a problem?

2 - Ah, I don’t remember what the theme is.

1 - "God is in our Midst"

2 - God is in our "Mist"? That’s the theme? (1 looks on in growing disbelief) That’s kind
                of dumb, isn’t it? What "mist" are we talking about? Is it like the "mist" when I
                take a hot shower? I’m not sure I like the idea of God being in my bathroom,
                if you know what I mean.

1 - "Midst" not "mist"! ... God is among us.

2 - "Midst"?

1 - "Midst"!

2 - Not "mist"?

1 - Not "mist"!

2 - I guess I made a "mist"-take.

1 - Can we continue?

2 - Sure! What are we supposed to do now?

1 - Tell a story.

2 - What story?

1 - About Moses and the burning bush.

2 - Oh, that story. Can’t we just show the movie?

1 - What movie?

2 - The Prince of Egypt. The animation was real great!

1 - Does it look like we’re in a theatre?

2 - Well, no.

1 - Okay. Our job is to tell the story from the Bible.

2 - That’s a book, right?

1 - You know it is! Now, let’s get going. We’ve already wasted a lot of time.

2 - (to congregation) We brought along some helpers.

1 - First, there is Moses.

M - (steps out from pew and runs forward, saying loudly:) Here I am.

1 - Not yet, Moses. That line comes later.

M - Oh, sorry. (gets into position)

2 - Second, there is God. (pause) Oh, yeah. You’re not supposed to be able to see God.

1 - When you hear God’s voice, pretend it’s coming from a bush that only appears
            to be on fire.

2 - You’re kidding, right? What is God, some ventriloquist? "Let’s throw our voice into
            a bush." And not only that, it’s a bush that is on fire, but not really on fire.

G - Do you have a problem with that?

2 - No, Lord! Not at all.

1 - Shall we continue?

2 - I think we should... "Once upon a time..."

1 - What are you doing?

2 - Beginning the story.

1 - It doesn’t begin with "Once upon a time."

2 - I thought that’s how all stories started.

1 - Obviously you haven’t read your Bible.

G - If he wants to say, "Once upon a time," let him.

1 - Yes, God.

2 - (smiles) "Once upon a time, Moses was keeping the flock of his wife’s father,
            Jethro..." Does that mean Moses was a Beverly Hillbilly.

1 - That was Jethro Bodine. Wrong story. This is about Moses. I thought you saw
            the movie?

2 - Well, actually, I only saw the previews.

G - The special effects weren’t that good. I’ve done much better.

M - Can we get on with the story? The long and short of it, kids, is that I was a
            descendant of Abraham, whose family had arrived in Egypt long before I was born.
            At first, things were okay for my ancestors. Gradually, however, we became slaves.
            The kings of Egypt, called Pharaohs, got nasty. My grandparents and parents were
            so upset over how they were being treated, that they cried out in anguish.

G - And I heard their cry!

M - Yeah! Perhaps you know the story about how my Mom put me in a basket and
            floated me on the river to protect me, and how one of Pharaoh’s daughters found me,
            and I was raised in his family. When I grew up, I discovered the truth about who I was.
            One thing led to another and, well, I ran away. Any of you ever wanted to run away
            from home?

2 - Me !

1 - sssshhh!

M - I met a woman, and we got married, and I thought I’d spend the rest of my life taking
            care of my father-in-law’s sheep. Of course, God had other plans.

G - Indeed I did !

1 - Are you finished? Can we continue?

M - Be my guest.

1 - Thank you. Moses was tending his flock one day near Mt. Horeb.

2 - Horeb is "the mountain of God."

1 - All of a sudden you’re a Bible scholar.

2 - Just telling the story. On the mountainside there was a bush which looked like it was
            on fire, except that the fire wasn’t burning up the bush. That would get my attention!

1 - When Moses saw it, he said,

M - "I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up."

2 - If you spent all that time alone with a flock of sheep, you’d talk to yourself, too.

1 - When the Lord saw that Moses was coming to check out that bush, God called to him
            out of the bush.

2 - Here’s where you kids need to imagine the bush on fire and God’s voice calling from it,

G - "Moses, Moses"

M - "Here I am"

G - "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are
            standing is holy ground."

1 - Needless to say, Moses took off his sandals.

2 - You would, too, if you recognized that God was in your midst. Now, remember, God
            spoke out of that fire on a bush, not from a "mist."

G - I will speak from wherever I will speak.

2 - Yes, Lord.

1 - Anyway, God continued:

G - I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
            Jacob."

2 - Awesome! Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. (Moses does so)

G - "I have seen my people’s suffering in Egypt. I have heard their cry. I’ve come to
            deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them to a new land... Moses, I’m
            sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people out of Egypt."

M - (pause) "Me? Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring your people out?"

G - "I AM WHO I AM. Tell them that ‘I AM’ has sent you to them."

2 - Whoa! That was some conversation!

1 - You bet! Of course, there was more to it, but that’s enough for now.

2 - God said, "I will be with you." I like that!

1 - Jesus said the same thing, but that’s another story.

2 - Maybe we’ll hear about that later.

1 - Possibly ! That, after all, is the theme for this whole week. We’ll be exploring how
            God is in our midst,

2 - here at camp as we’re getting to know each other, and become like a family - God’s
            family.

1 - Hopefully, we’ll grow in hearing God around and in us.

2 - If God can speak to Moses through a burning bush, then can speak to us in other ways.

1 - Hey, we’re at camp, and here we definitely can see God’s handiwork all around us.

2 - Yes, God is in our midst!

1 - And we can talk and listen to God, and experience how great the One who said
            "I AM WHO I AM" is.

2 - Your grammar was just a bit off.

1 - Fine, but you know what I mean.

2 - Yes, and at the end of this week, as well as all along the way, we will celebrate the
            presence of the One who said,