Saturday and Sunday

Hello!

Currently we are sitting at dinner at the close of our last day of ministry. Our feelings are so bittersweet. We've been so exhausted due to the challenging conditions, and there were times we found ourselves counting down the days til we came home. Now that ministry is over, we find ourselves wanting to stay!

Tonight we packed up and left the Cheshire Home (where we were staying with the sweet, sweet disabled children). Mark found us air-conditioned lodging where we will stay for the next 2 nights so our drivers can get sleep for the 17 hour drive to Windhoek. As we were leaving the precious children and Sister Lucy (the most compassionate nun who runs the home), we said we would trade the A/C to stay among the children where there is so much peace and joy. Tears were shed as we said our goodbyes.

We began our kids' camp on Friday. There were 60 children from various churches and the Children of Zion orphanage. Watching the exuberance with which they children praise and the sincerity with which they worship is nothing short of humbling. The whole team had a special role in the service (Ray teaching the object lesson, Brian as the creative story teller, Jaime teaching the memory verse, Brenda and Rob as back-up dancers, all the boys running the games,  and Deb as our "points princess" for the games). They each did a fantastic job in their roles. Brian was quite entertaining as the storyteller, and the kids absolutely love when Ray breaks out the balloons! We did experience a language barrier, though were were told the kids would be able to speak English. Fortunately, a translator stepped in and the team adapted to working with him.

Saturday was quite a long day in the sun, with camp going from 8am to 10pm in scorching heat. Sadly, since the water in the town has been shut down all week, and the children were running around playing games in the heat, they were quite parched. We had a bucket of water we were using to flush the toilet, but kids kept sneaking in to the bathroom with their mugs for the water. The ladies were able to get more water for them later in the day.

They women of the church have been cooking meals for the camp in pots over the fire. It's been so delicious, although we missed the memo to bring our own utensils. We ate our rice and beans with our fingers, and felt like we were getting a true African experience :)

We found out on Saturday afternoon that there was a planned power outage for all day on Sunday. That certainly threw a wrench in the gears. No electricity meant no sound system for services or ministry training and no inflatable moon bounce. We didn't even want to think about what it meant for our sleeping conditions (it's 104 degrees here, and sleeping in a mosquito net with no fan would be… challenging). We decided to break out the inflatable obstacle course on Saturday while were guaranteed electricity. For these children, it was the equivalent of an amusement park. They were ecstatic! 

Side note: I'm so impressed by these children. We shared a memory verse with them on Friday night:

2 Chron. 7:14, "If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will hear their land." 

From Friday night to 8:30am on Saturday morning, there were children who had already memorized the verse and were eager to share it with us! They were such a blessing!

Saturday night, Jaime and Deb killed a spider the size of their palm which was in our room! The same night we killed that spider, the boys decided to sleep with their door completely OPEN to the outside to get more cool air! Crazy boys! They were obviously unharmed and enjoyed the occasional breeze. Still, who knows what stray dog or scorpion cuddled up with them in them in the middle of the night :)

Today was our last day of camp. We again had to make changes to our program because the church hosting the camp originally said they would cancel their adult service so the camp could have full use of their facility…They changed their mind :) We made it work though!

We have been teaching ministry workshops to the children all week. Brenda and Jaime taught puppets. Deb and Brian taught drama. Ray and Rob taught balloon art and gospel illusions. I taught hip-hop :) Today to close out the camp, the children all performed what they had learned! We were so proud – they did a great job! Although one of the children performing the drama "Sin Chair," dropped a couple of curse words. Deb swears they didn't teach them that ;)

Tomorrow we spend the day at Victoria Falls. Google it. It's one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Not much more needs to be said. While you are googling, check out the Devil's Pool at Victoria Falls. Mark tells us the water level might be low enough for us to go in the pool. Scary! Bucket list? Check.

That's all for now. Thanks for your love, prayers, and comments!

-Courtney and the team