Off roading!!

The title of today's post refers to what we spent all day doing - off roading on the African savannah! Before I tell you all about our safari, I just want to praise God for what He accomplished yesterday!

You might recall that yesterday, Friday, the team was in charge of leading a Vacation Bible School at Africa New Life Ministry's campus in the town of Kayonza. No big deal, right? Teach a lesson, do a craft, lead some singing, and play a few games. Let me tell you, when you throw 800 children in the mix (almost half of whom don't speak very much English) it becomes a big deal. But I am here to tell you that the team did great! I am So proud to be a part of such a hard-working, energetic team that is full of the joy of the Lord! From teaching the story of the lost sheep, making sheep masks to go with it, playing soccer under the hot African sun, and dancing and singing along to the Kinyarwanda worship song we learned this week, the team was bursting with excitement and love for those kids. We spent the morning doing 8 rotations among the kindergarten through third grade classrooms. Each rotation consisted of 2 to 3 of us and anywhere from 40 to 60 students. Most of the classrooms had teachers that were able to help translate to the students who didn't understand, but there were a token few classrooms with no teacher, and we just had to wing it and trust that God was enabling those children to grasp what we were saying. After a lunch break, we spent the afternoon with grades four through six.

Being a part of the music group, it was such a wonderful experience to share worship with the children and to in turn learn their favorite songs. Our friend Brian, who is in the band Hindurwa, has even taught us a few worship songs in Kinyarwanda. Those were a Huge hit with the kids. You should have seen the smiles on their faces when the "mozungus" started singing a song in their language.

After school, split in to two separate groups and made village visits, bringing gifts to families. It was truly a blessing to be able to bless these families with flour, rice, sugar, salt, soap, and matches. We also shared testimonies and prayed for the families. It was a very powerful experience because, in some villages, groups of close to 30 would swarm around our group and listen to what we were saying.

Last night we all went to bed very early, as we had to wake up at 4:00 this morning to leave for Akagera National Park. I'm certain that today most of us were able to cross one item off of our list of lifetime goals: go on an African safari! It was truly surreal to be walking as quietly as possible through tall, dry grass on the African savannah in search of giraffes! While I personally was terrified that I was going to step on a coiled up black mamba, the deadliest snake in the world, it was still incredible to experience it. Besides the giraffes, which seemed to generate the most excitement, we also saw a lot of baboons, impalas (a type of antelope), hippos, and water buffalo. It was such a fun way to spend our one day of R & R and I was incredibly impressed with the fact that not a single one of our team members complained about waking up at 4:00 AM. On the contrary, we were all extremely excited for the incredible photo-op that the sunrise was this morning.

Tomorrow we will be returning to the Kayonza campus one last time. One of our own, Kevin, will be giving a sermon to the church at Kayonza while the rest of us teach Sunday school classes. Then in the afternoon we will be having a party with the orphans from Kayonza. We will be bringing cake and Fanta for all the kids, sharing a testimony or two, and playing soccer. This will be our last time shared with the children of Kayonza, so please pray that it will be a time of joy and blessing, and that it won't be too difficult for us to say goodbye.

The team would ask that you pray that God will speak through Kevin, that our fellow team in Bolivia will be rejuvenated for their last few days of their trip, and that we will all make it home safely with all of our luggage. Praise God that Stacy finally received her luggage, and God bless Abby for being such a good sport without her bag!