Day 3: Children's Ministry

What better way to start off our first work day than waking up at a quarter to 6. We trudged along while getting ready, but as soon as we arrived at the school we were all very excited. Walking through the gate into the school, we were greeted by kids lined up along either side of the path to the chapel. As our group walked through, they threw handfuls of confetti over us, although a few of them aimed for our faces. Covered from head to toe in colourful pieces of paper, we began the morning devotion. To sum it up in one word, it was incredible. The kids were singing as loud as they could, clapping their hands, and jumping for joy during the worship songs. It was amazing to see how passionate and on fire for God they were. Apparently, if the wind isn't blowing, you can hear them singing from the other side of the valley, which we'll get to see tomorrow. After the morning devotion was done, we got hugs from a few dozen of the younger kids before they went to class. Each grade had been assigned a student from our group to welcome, so we each went to our class to play games and meet the kids. There was one funny mixup however; a poster on one of the doors read: Welcome Brother Tylor. The kids were quite shocked to find out that Taylor was a girl. Anyway, it was very fun being with the kids in the classroom, despite the fact that I was the only one who could speak English. We may not have been able to verbally communicate, but smiling and laughing is universal. We all had a great time and sharing the stories with the others in the Westpark group afterward was just as fun. We went back to Impact Ministries for lunch, and returned in the afternoon for our children's ministry. We danced, did a skit, and had a puppet show, followed by crafts, games, and an object lesson from Mr. Stoesz. We said our goodbyes, we got more hugs, and then went back to spend the evening at the guest house. Tonight we went to visit the directors' house to talk about our experience so far, our highlights of the trip, and what it means to us. Les has an amazing ability to completely change your thinking and challenge you on your beliefs. The work he and his wife are doing here is life changing and, well, impacting. I can't wait to see what the next few days has in store with us. As I'm typing this, Mr. Stoesz and I heard what we thought was Brett snoring, but it's actually a cow mooing outside our window. I think it's time for bed.

-Sean Robertson

P.S. We took lots of pictures and video today, but unfortunately they are not in the format we can use to transfer them to the iPad (our blogging device) at this time. We will try to get some tomorrow. When we get an opportunity, we will post pictures retrospectively. -Mr. Stoesz