January 2014 Update 5

Wow we have had a busy week. I’m sorry that I haven’t been better at keeping in contact. I find myself very tired and it’s busier trying to run camp for two groups. We are having a great time and God is doing awesome things!!

So Wednesday evening we sent Gloria with Emma to go to pick up Madi from the airport. I have been in contact with her and it appears all is well this time. Praise God!!  I woke to them arriving at around 145am. Yay!! The whole team is here now!! We quickly settled her in and went back to bed. Finally things are all complete, actually Madi said that only one of her bins arrived. Aye!!  We were hopeful that the things we really need are there.

So he first full day of camp was January 2. We woke up early, especially the kids.  The morning are a bit chaotic with all the girls trying to get basins to bathe and do wash. Since the start at 5am you would think going to breakfast at 8 would be an issue, but it is. I am having to play the stern rule master to get the girls out the door.

After breakfast we gathered for worship. Cathy leads us and all enjoy dancing and singing and praising our great God!!  In the mornings, our Ugandan team will take turn preaching. This has been a fun area of growth. I remember the first time we tried to get these guys to just share a bit of their own testimony, it was such a big deal. They resisted and when they did, they only shared for about 5 minutes. Now they actually fight for the opportunity to get up and share with these kids. So amazing!! Their stories are more similar to these kids’ stories, so it is really powerful for the kids to hear success stories they can relate to. This morning we were blessed by Allan. This kid is awesome!! I feel like a proud mama bear. And the kids really listen to him, and his life has been one marked by struggles, but his dependence on The Lord is such a beautiful testimony of how God is making all things beautiful!!

We Sent the teams out to do small group time. This is generally a bit painful. The kids that are steaming and won’t stop talking the rest of the day become super tight lipped in this setting. The Ugandan staff is getting so good at coming up with different ways to get them to respond though.

The morning is completed with games in the field. We have a few different games that challenge the kids to problem solve and work as a team to succeed. It is so frustrating for them. They want it to be like futbol where the best athletes win or it can be completed quickly, but that isn’t how these work. One today has proved more challenging than any other. The teams are given pieces of cardboard and they are tasked to get their whole team to “cross the river” without the alligator getting them or their bridge supplies. It is fun and frustrating for me because they aren’t really taught to think here. In school there are just to listen and memorize. If they ask questions, they may be caned, so these exercises are really difficult for them, but so needed.

LUNCH!!

Our futbol tournament continues this afternoon and teams are encouraged to practice their dances when they aren’t playing. I am the guard in the main hall while everyone is out playing, so I hear drumming in the distance with an occasional eruption of cheering when teams score.

CPR is before dinner. Today we catch up on the pieces we missed yesterday and build on it. This info is so good for these kids to hear!!

After dinner we head to worship. Tonight we get to talk about the fall, super fun, but we get to end with Romans 6:23 ‘for the wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life.’ Thank goodness for the BUT!!

It’s movie night!!  I asked the kids if they wanted fish or penguins…the said fish but I learned it was because they didn’t know what a penguin was. Of course I put in Happy Feet so they could learn what a penguin is. I love movie night!! It is interactive watching movies with these kids. They are laughing so loud!! Awesome!!  About halfway thru I notice the Americans are fading so I let them know they can go to bed.  We went to our storage room to get water and when we come out there is a mass exodus from the main hall.  Apparently the kids are fading too.  We decided to stop and watch the second half another night.