Last week I arrived early to observe the dismantling of our school playground, erected 17 years ago by a group of volunteer parents on a frigid November morning. Besides my frozen hands and feet, I remember the faithful dads and moms, plus some older students, who labored to set those large wooden pilings in the ground. I think it was the hot kettles of chili that some moms cooked for us that kept us all alive that day, plus the good–natured conversation and the skills of key craftsmen. These were dads that knew how to construct a large structure with very little instruction. Like guys you used to meet in a hardware store that could actually tell you how to repair most anything because they had actually done it themselves.
As I was parking my car, I saw a large old school bus pull into our lot, strangely topped with the shell of an old VW van. Yes, it was just resting on top waiting to be stripped off by a low overhanging bridge! Inside were several guys with Duck Dynasty beards who asked me if there was a playground on the property. My mind started clicking that this was the “church” I’d been told was to receive the old playground.
Now it’s been a while since I lived in Alabama, but I was fully intrigued and entertained by these men. After getting this double decker bus turned around and headed toward the location, I went to see what was up. Joshua seemed to be the man in charge, and his personal story was what we called a “hoot” when I lived in that “state”.
I soon learned that years ago, Joshua was traveling back from a Rainbow Festival (Google this for details, but it’s like Woodstock in 1969) and crashed his van into a church! The pastor there took its inebriated passengers into his home and sobered them up for a few days by replacing their refreshments with the Living Water of the gospel. It turned out that this was a thirsty group with no money but open hearts.
So Joshua over time, in gratitude to God, decided to reach out with this Water to those who frequented Rainbow festivals, setting up a food kitchen out of that bus, and Jesus tents to share the Bread of Life. A decade later they were able to purchase 40 acres in Attalla, Alabama, now known as Nomad’s Land, called on their website, “a rest stop for weary travelers….green building, organic gardening, daily community, Bible teaching, outdoor concerts, and community meals as a way of life”. Their mission:
“to share the love and truth of Jesus
Christ with the nomads of this world.”
That’s what can happen when you crash your van into a church and your thirsty soul encounters someone dishing out Living Water!
So how did they end up at our school? Somehow they heard through our playground salesman about our desire to give it away, and they hit the road. But, it gets better. Joshua told me their plan was to use all the wooden pieces to construct on the Nomad property a large…. tree house! A special place to play for the children of these who wander there and find a place for a rest.
It’s hard to script this story. Here in the midst of a landscaped Georgia suburb with a huge concrete edifice, God unannounced sends some redeemed Alabama hippies to haul away a wooden playground of memories, but not to a dump. Instead, it goes to a remote natural wilderness to build new memories for others.
Very different cultures but really the same story. For we all are nomads in this world, in search of Living Water without money and without price. May our school, even in our busy suburban location, also be a rest stop for weary and thirsty travelers.
Bobby Scott, headmaster of Perimeter School in Johns Creek, Georgia, and director of the ChildLight Schools Association, has over 30 years of educational experience. He is a co-author of "When Children Love to Learn" (Crossway Books), a Charlotte Mason education book for school educators. Bobby has been the headmaster of Perimeter School in Johns Creek, GA (a 500+ student school of grades K-8) for 26 years. Since 2004, he has annually led teacher training teams to the Punchmi Christian Academy in Karanse, Tanzania, East Africa, as well as been an adjunct instructor at the Joshua Teacher Training College, also in Tanzania. He holds a Master of Education in Counseling and a Master of Education in School Administration. He and his wife, Valerie, have a son and two daughters.
