Tree of Life

Church in Africa is rather different than church in the U.S. For starters, if you want people to show up by 10 you should tell them 9, and then just plan on having a late lunch because there is no telling when you'll be done. We prepared for a 2 and a half hour service where I would lead a few songs and Sarah our leader would share a message from Exodus. The rest of the time would be filled with any songs they wanted to teach us or just singing together. This was our plan, but God had something else in mind. When we pulled up in our massive vehicle, the whole village knew we were there, and the children came running. Our service was full of children with a few adults and some of the girls we were there to work with. We started singing some children's Bible songs and then decided to redo the message to better accommodate the number of children there. Sarah told of Noah's ark and had the children act it out as she told it. She then explained the message and meaning behind the story. After church, we tried to just play more with the children, but as we got our balls and equipment out, some of the men in the village confronted us angry because they were not given balls or anything. So we put the equipment up and just talked and hung out with the children. With Monday came our first official day of camp with the girls. Our theme for the day was how Christ accepts us just as we are. We opened camp with a few ice breaker games. We then played crazy kickball and a version of ultimate Frisbee. Throughout the day we gave them 3 verses about how God accepts us when we come to Him. Sarah told of the Samaritan woman and then we broke off into small groups to discuss the story and what it meant. We talked about how they didn't have to clean up their lives in order to come to God. That it didn't matter what their past looked like, or what they've done or anything. We also talked about how we should treat the outcasts in our own communities. These girls all come from the township of Hatcliff. It is considered the slum of Zimbabwe. They are considered the outcasts and looked down on even more so because they are women and they play sports. Everywhere they turn they face opposition. It really surprised me though that so many of them already knew Christ and could quote verses to us and refer to scripture for many of our conversations. Their leaders have done a great job pointing them towards Christ and it was a joy to see it! Our second day of camp consisted of volleyball, softball, and basketball. They had a blast and so did we! That afternoon, we had them sit down to each draw a tree. The next day at camp we talked them trough different parts of it. For example, the roots represented their family and background. They had to write down names of family members and where they lived. The branches were people in their lives that influence them. We talked about how sometimes people are bad influences and need to be cut down. The fruit was dreams or talents, and they drew bugs to represent things that eat away at those dreams. We also talked about how we must have a relationship with God and feed that relationship in order to grow and produce fruit. This was our last day with these girls. It went by so fast but we were still able to build relationships and lift the name of Christ higher together. That afternoon we held a closing ceremony for them. Each of the coaches spoke and several of the girls mothers and grandmothers. It was amazing that so many relatives came. The parents are usually not very involved in their children's lives, but one of the coaches went to each house inviting the families. Many of the girls live with grandparents or aunts and uncles. It was very rare to hear of one who had both parents alive. So many had parents who had died. It was great to hear from their families. That day we gave them shorts and gift bags. We left all of our equipment and spent a good hour saying goodbye. This trip was much shorter than any of us wanted, but I know God was glorified through what he allowed us to do there. With every chance we poured out His love on girls who needed it more than ever. Thank you to all those who joined us in prayer. Please continue to lift them up and pray God will draw them closer to Himself and reach their community through them.