final vbs & supper with village kids

WOW... our last vbs day with the Chaps kids. Although we will still see them next week it will be on a different level. We will be in a classroom in the morning instead of vbs. Today, I was off to Plot 17 with Mrs. Zowa. When the children heard the horn from the truck, they came running. They were so excited to see Mrs. Zowa. She is like royalty in the plots. She has done so much for the communities surrounding the village. Again, we sang songs, read stories, did a pre-school lesson and the children ate. Just before leaving the children sang "Toboruka" for us. Again, this song is loved by all children in the area. As we were leaving the children were clinging to me. I gave lots of hugs and I received lots of hugs.

Today's vbs was set up much like the community sports day. We had stations with different activities. The children loved the relays and the water balloons. It really was so much fun!! The teachers keep saying that we will never know the extent to which the vbs and sports camp has impacted the children. We keep telling them that they will never know how much the children have impacted us!

No sports camp this afternoon (no sports on Fridays). We attended the afternoon devotions with the staff. It was wonderful. What a great way to end your week!

Tonight we were having supper in house 2 with the house mom (Regina), Carrie and the children (Esnut, Derek, Tino and Joseph). In this house, 3 0f 4 children are HIV pos and 2 of 3 have tuberculosus. The children living at the village have come from very difficult situations. Some have been severely abused, locked in rooms for hours on end, one was found left for dead on a train, and others left behind from parents who have passed away from Aids. The children have made such strides since arriving at the village. Their health, self-esteem, social skills, and education have all improved remarkably. The village is a safe place where they are loved and nourished physically and spiritually.

Generally each house has 8 children but because 3 are very sick, they only put 4 in this house. House 1 has 9 children for a total of 13 children living at the village. They are in the middle of building several new houses. By the fall, there will be 4 new houses with 32 more kids.

Our supper with the house 2 children was wonderful. They were so excited to have us in their home. After supper, the house 1 children (Nyasha, Tashinga, Daniel, Jeff, Angela, Rumbi, Ruvimbo, Takudzswa x2) and Irene (house mom) joined us for dessert. After dessert Carrie sang a beautiful song in English for us. Following Carrie's performance, various children sang solos for us. Nyasha (3 years old) and Tashinga (8 years old) were amazing! Nyasha's song talked about her status with the Lord and Tashinga's song was asking the Holy Spirit to come down on him. Oh my goodness, Tashinga is the next praise and worship leader. We ended the evening with two group songs in Shona. (one of course was Toboruka!) What an incredible night!!

Highlights:
*Seeing Mrs. Zowa with the children at the plot
*Spending the evening with the village children
*Tashinga singing "Baruka"

Pics below in order:
Esnut with some attitude, Nyasha (3 year old singer), David & me with house 2 kids (Tino, Joseph, Derek & Esnut), Esnut & Derek, entire group (house 1 & 2 kids, house moms, Carrie & our team), house 1 & 2 and yard

zimbabwe national holiday (workers day)

Today is a national holiday so the children are out of school. It is our last day to play with all the community kids. At 10 am we started the vbs, but we didn't have too many kids. We thought maybe today would be smaller numbers. Well... we were wrong. By the end of the vbs we had approx. 240 kids! This is the highest number of children to ever attend a vbs at the village. Actually, this would be the highest number of kids to ever come to the village. It was a very exciting day!

Today's vbs consisted of praise and worship and then a sports day. We set up several stations for the children to rotate through. We had sack races, water balloon relays, bean bag toss, track relays, etc. It worked very well and the children loved it!

The sports camp was also a huge success today with approx. 100 kids in attendance. They played soccer, volleyball, netball, basketball and various games for the little ones. At the end of the day we had the kids sing "Toboruka" in Shona for us. They love to sing this song and we loved to hear it and sing/dance with them. The song talks about flying for our father, dancing, running, jumping for our Lord with happiness! Everyday we had the children sing this song for us. The team was getting pretty good at. We would walk around outside the village singing "Toboruka". We ended the day with giving the children the "Good News Gloves" and candy. These children LOVE candy! Snacks and candy are hard to get in Zim and if you can find some it is very expensive. Finished the day with they children singing "Father I Adore You" in a round. WOW!!!!

Highlights:
*Sports day
*Singing "Toboruka" & "Father I Adore You"

Pics below of sports day & children singing/dancing to "Toboruka"

Chaps vbs & sports day

Started the day with devotions and worship in the church. All the staff (teachers, workers, admin, etc.) attend the morning service. What an absolutely great way to start the day!

Today we taught the children the song "Father I Adore You". It was so beautiful! The children love to sing and pick up the English songs with no problem. Even the young children try really hard to learn the words. They enjoy the song even more if there are actions to go along. Our activities in the vbs today included water balloons. Well.. the children loved it! The wetter they got, the more laughter there was. The games were just a hoot!

David had a chance to meet Zviko. Zviko has had Muscular Dystrophy since he was a young boy. Until January of this year, his mother used to carry him around on her back. In January (after searching for several months), the village found a wheelchair for Zviko. Because he has been immobile for so many years, he is very stiff. (very little movement in his arms and legs) David worked with Zviko to try to increase his flexibility and his range of motion, and made a point of including him in some of the games. By the end of our trip, Zviko was throwing and catching a ball, and bouncing a basketball beside his wheelchair. He did all of this with a big, big smile on his face!

No ZESA again tonight. It's funny how you start to expect and adapt to no power. Wolfgang set the table very nicely and we had supper by candlelight. Tonight everyone was tired. The long, active days are taking their toll on the team. We did some planning and ended the night with group prayer. This was a highlight of every night. We always gathered just before bed to share stories and close in prayer. What an amazing way to end the day!

HIGHLIGHTS:
*Hearing the children sing "Father I Adore You"
*Seeing children laughing while playing with water balloons
*David playing with Zviko

Pics below of activities, sports camp, David & Zviko

Chaps and Chichara plot

Today was our first day for vbs and sports camp with the children who attend school at the village. (CHAPS - Cornelius Hope Academy Primary School) Many of the children from the community (plots) attend school here through sponsorship (Child Care Plus), while others pay for their education at the village. So.. we saw many of the children who had attended the previous couple of days.

Today was my day to attend the community feeding program. I went with Carrie (pre-school teacher) to Chichara plot. It was a little quiet today at Chichara due to the death of the boy a couple of days ago. The plots are located on farm land where most of the men and women work for the farmer. The program provides the children with breakfast (maze porridge everyday and beans 3 times/week). In many cases, this will be their only meal of the day. While the mother(s) prepare breakfast, Carrie teaches a pre-school lesson. The lessons consist of songs, games, a story, and counting/ABC's. The children range in age from 1-6 or so. These families can not afford to send their children to school. Unless they receive CCP sponsorship, they will not be receiving a formal education. The living conditions are quite horrendous. The huts (made of mud & thatch) with dirt floors are very small. Generally they have a separate cooking area but the living area is where they store limited household items, clothes, etc. and sleep. Farm animals were walking around freely. They were not in a fenced area. You see older children and men & women hanging around with nothing to do and nowhere to go. VERY SAD! What is their purpose... what do they live for? The feeding program is such a blessing to the plots. God has continued to provide food and resources for these families. The children are very excited to see the teacher and are so enthusiastic to learn!

VBS and sports camp were more manageable today as we had fewer children. There are approx. 125 children who attend Chaps. The sports camp was only for grades 4-6. We had a few teachers helping us out with soccer, volleyball and net ball. Net ball is like basketball but has no backboards and you can't move with the ball; essentially a passing game. It is very popular with the girls. Today I met a young boy (about 10), Motion. He is a phenomenal soccer player and absolutely loves to run. He worked so hard with every play. He reminded me of me when I was his age.; loved the game of soccer and would run and work hard. After camp I stayed for awhile and played some more with Motion. He loved the one-on-one time.

HIGHLIGHTS:
*visiting the plots and spending time with the children
*playing soccer with Motion


Pics below are of Motion & the plots (feeding program, women doing laundry and housing)

day 2 - community vbs & sports day

Started the day off by arriving early for staff devotions at the village. It was a very emotional devotional today as the village received news that one of the pre-school boys from the Chichara plot was crushed by a falling brick wall and died. This was the second death since January. This kind of thing really affects the village and surrounding communities.

Another great day with the VBS and sports camp. Record numbers again at VBS; ~170 kids. The numbers started small but within time there was a steady stream of kids coming through the gates. This is called Zim time. Nothing starts on time and nobody is in a hurry. Perhaps something we should think about! The smiling faces continue to amaze me. The children are so excited about coming to the village for VBS and sports camp. During the sports camp (for the older children) we had many younger ones hang around. We brought out skipping ropes, balls, parachutes, and played more games. Really, an extension of the morning VBS. They did not want to leave. It is so hard to leave them in the afternoon. We have to say good-bye and walk away before they will leave the village.

Today we had a traditional Zim lunch, which consisted of sudza (ground, cooked maze), kosava (greens with peanut butter), a vegetable sauce and skinny chicken. We call it skinny chicken because there isn't too much meet on these chicken wings. The food was delicious, especially the greens and vegetable sauce. We arrived at the house with no ZESA (no power) again. We made spaghetti with ground beef (on the gas stove) and salad. We were very tired today... lots of running around with the kids.

HIGHLIGHTS:
*Steady stream of children come through the gates - smiling faces!!
*VBS and sports camp ran very well
*Traditional Zim lunch

Pics below of lunch & sports camp

sunday school & church service

We were up early so we could be at church early to prepare for Sunday school. We met at 8:30 am in the church for prayer with the elders of the church and others. We taught Sunday school from 9 - 9:45 am. It was great! We used the puppets (Pierre & Ginger) that Sharon and Tim brought. The kids loved the puppets!

The church service was two hours long; an hour of worship (music and songs) and an hour long message. The entire service as incredible! The worship was out of this world. They love music and love to dance. There was lots of dancing, singing, clapping, and hands in the air. The place was on fire! Some of the children from yesterday came and sat with the team. Some of us had 2-3 trying to sit on our laps or carry them. Needless to say, by the end of worship my arms were tired. Again, the children were such a delight!

The message today was about having "RIDICULOUS FAITH". Regardless of our circumstances, we need to depend on the Lord and His word. Following the message we had a chance to talk to a few people. Their stories are heart-wrenching but so inspiring. These people have "ridiculous faith".

The Cooledges took us out for lunch to a local restaurant. The seating area was in a beautiful outdoor tropical garden. The food was tremendous. Our first taste of some African food. By the time we got home ZESA (power)was out. We were without power until 8:30 pm. We heard this could be a regular occurence. We'll see.

HIGHLIGHTS:
* Worship at church was amazing
* Gord's message on having "ridiculous faith"
* Meeting some of the locals and hearing their stories

Pics below of church & children after the service

day 1 - community vbs & sports camp

We were up early and the village by 9 am. We were so excited to get started. When we opened all the bags to get the equipment and supplies ready, we forgot how much we had brought. Just before 10 am we headed to the church. This would be our starting point each day, where we would sing songs, tell a story and do the crafts. As we approached the church there was a steady stream of children coming through the village gates. They started running toward us and greeted us with big hugs. (we hadn't even met them at this point) From this point forward they just wanted to be with us, hold our hands, play with our hair; anything to be by our side.

The vbs (vacation bible school) and sports camp were amazing! We had ~150 kids for the vbs and ~75-100 for the sports camp. These numbers far exceeded our expectations. The kids loved the activities; they loved relays (what kid doesn't?), hopping, sack races, ball & balloon games, tag, parachute games, etc. The pictures really show the joy on their faces. It was interesting to watch some of the children color. Some of the 4 & 5 year olds could barely hold a crayon. Something our children learn to do at such a young age. Most of the community children live in plots (will explain later) and likely have limited access to school supplies.

Sports camp was incredible! With so many children we had to be creative. We set up a volleyball court and had basketballs out for the b'ball court, and of course soccer, their favourite sport! There were many talented soccer players. The children remove their footwear before playing. It's incredible how hard they still shoot the ball in bare feet. Today we met Ever Mary and Margaret, two college/university students who have a huge heart for helping the children. They helped us with translatation. They were such a joy to have around!

What a day! The children did not want to leave the village at the end of the day; a sign of a successful day!

HIGHLIGHTS:
* Seeing the children run through the village gates with smiling faces
* You can't be measured by your financial wealth but rather by your spiritual wealth. You can have so little but have so much!

Below are pics of the activities from vbs