The Onslaught of Kids

Right now it is Tuesday morning. I was unable to post anything last night as I couldn't keep my wi fi connected. Seems like it may be an issue through the week.

Well that was an exciting day of ministry. You could see it was obvious that everyone is so comfortable working with kids in the context of the Centershot archery plan.  We drove to Mokopane and set up on the Football (Soccer) Field. Then the day started with an assembly in their gym. Here Kevin introduced the kids to archery with a demonstration where he had some teachers involved. One thing I have to mention is how amazingly quiet these kids were while waiting to start. We were told there was 910 students in the school and you could of heard a pin drop as they all filed in and sat down to wait for things to start. We had an awkward silence while sitting having a stare down and waiting for the morning to begin. One interesting fact is how many kids come to school with no shoes. It's not that they don't have them, they just don't like to wear them.

Discipline is obviously very important at this school but once the kids began to interact in the assembly you see they are just like ours and get very excited to do and see new things. Our assembly included Kevin's demonstration as well as the kids singing some songs  (some praise and worship ones we recognized), and then Ryan Coffey doing a short talk about the importance of what is inside you.  It included kids holding balloons over teachers heads. One filled with air that popped when a flame was held to it. The second filled with water that didn't pop with a flame held to it, signifying a life filled with Christ. It illustrates the point beautifully.

Then out to the field for the onslaught of kids!  Groups of about 30 at a time came for us to work with, three per instructor. We also had a station with leaders playing games with the kids and another station where the kids were provided with a small book they could take home that included an overview of Bible stories and a clear salvation message included in it.

Back at the archery range this onslaught of kids continued until 1pm. We had very few breaks but it didn't seem to matter. We had such fun interacting with the kids. It was awesome to ask kids directly if they went to church or if they had asked Jesus into their hearts. what a blessing to be able to do this right on the schools. It led to cool conversations and the ability to be very direct with our faith. It was also fun to get these kids really excited to cheer for their teachers as they tried to shoot.  We also spent time teaching them a few new 'high fives' and us learning a few words in Afrikaans.  The kids loved the standard Mexico handshake we learned last fall!  The day was a big success according to Kevin and Jacques. The love of Christ was shown and His message shared clearly at all of the stations including archery.

Well right now I need to take a break as breakfast is about to be served. I'll continue the review of the day at the next opportunity. There were so many more highlights to the day that I want to share but don't have time to right now.

For today we will be working at another school (that is primarily black, the first was more white kids than black) with a group of about 160 kids. The day will be totally different as we get to spend all morning with these same kids. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Bye for now!