One of the most memorable moments of our recent mission trip to Wales occurred one afternoon at a neighborhood park in Pwllheli. I had been taking photographs of our students as they interacted with the neighborhood children on the field and the playground, when suddenly I heard a cheer erupt from a group of children standing behind me at the skatepark. When I turned around, I realized I had missed a stunt - a teenage daredevil on bicycle had just jumped over a child lying on the top of the ramp. With the crowd egging him on, the teenager prepared to make a second approach, and several other children joined the brave soul on the ramp. Once again, the teen easily cleared the ramp, and the children hopped up and applauded.
Soon the neighborhood children began urging the American onlookers to join the fun and lie down on the ramp with them. "We trust him!" insisted one child. "He once jumped fourteen kids!" (Did he try to jump fifteen kids once and fail, I wondered?) Several brave souls from our mission team decided to trust this complete stranger, and soon they were lying on top of the ramp as the daredevil sped toward them. I simultaneously held my breath, snapped photos, and wondered what my students' parents would think if we brought a member of our group home wounded. Fortunately, the daredevil once again cleared the pile, and our students rose to their feet unscathed.
Why did some of our students take a risk and allow a complete stranger to jump over them on a bicycle? Why did I stand by watching and resist the urge to intervene? Because the neighborhood children trusted the teenage stunt biker, and the biker himself exuded supreme confidence. The children who chose to lie down on the ramp had faith that biker would easily clear them, and the biker clearly had faith that his stunt would succeed. Our students were willing to exercise faith because they saw others exercising faith. Faith begat faith.
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