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