It’s an absolutely beautiful day here in Graaff-Reinet—a bit chilly as usual, but very sunny and bright. We’re hard at work yet again preparing for another successful day of VBS. This blog will be much shorter than my past blogs since I’m FINALLY caught up and able to post only one day’s worth of events!
Yesterday was our toughest craft day so far. After the vast number of children who came on Monday, we wanted to have a surplus of crafts so that every child would go home with a craft. So we planned for 800. And wow, was that an undertaking! Our craft was to make paper masks backed with construction paper of either Ruth or Boaz, which was Stefanie and Wanda’s lesson. Sensing that we were a bit overwhelmed on Monday night, the church members offered to help, and we gladly accepted. We may have missed a few hours of sleep, but it was all finished on time thanks to their help and our hard work!
In the morning, while the whole team labored over the masks, Pete took me to the internet café where I was able to quickly finish the blog and post it. Denzil, Matt and I also finished the slideshows and playlists for worship. Meanwhile, my mom asked Sister Priscilla to braid her hair to make mornings a little easier (seeing as we don’t have adequate adaptors for straighteners and curling irons here in Graaff-Reinet). Sister Priscilla is not only one of the volunteers of the church, but she also owns a hair salon in town, so Terri figured it’d be a perfect way to get to know Priscilla and the other women helping us. We weren’t sure if Terri knew quite what she was getting in to, but it turns out, Terri can pull off the African look! Pete did or will post a picture on Facebook, so be sure to look for that to see for yourself! :)
Once we picked up Terri from Priscilla’s shop, we went straight to VBS. The kids were already lined up to enter again on Day 2, and we were anxious to find out how many kids we would get!
And, again by the grace of God, we had 793!!
Check it out!
This means that not only did we have more, but we had prepared even more crafts than we needed! We actually had enough leftover to color our own masks, which was an opportunity I gladly took! Worship was beautiful and exciting again, and we loved on and played with as many kids as we got our hands on! It was amazing, and we were all very encouraged. At the end of the day, they served us yet another meal—an amazing dish called vetkock (pronounced fet-cook, which is translated to Curry Bunnies!). Everyone loved it!
Today we’re working on our third craft, which is not nearly as difficult, and we’re excited!! Also, it’s Denzil’s 17th birthday! For breakfast this morning, we went to his favorite breakfast diner, Wimpy’s, and we’ve been singing to him every hour on the hour. Matt’s 16th birthday is on Friday as well, so it’s an exciting week for everyone!
I’ll wrap this up because it’s getting close to time to prepare for worship yet again, and the internet café charges by the minute, so I don’t want to waste too much more of their time. But thank you all so much yet again for your prayers. It’s so evident in every moment we are here that we are being prayed over and that the Holy Spirit is working in us and through us.
Please continue to pray for us as we go through the week, especially for our health. A few of us have been fighting colds, coughs and sore throats, so we want to be sure and stay healthy.
Thank you again! We love you all!
PS: Photos will have to wait. The computer here in Graaff-Reinet aren't working very quickly, and as I said, we're short on time. I'll post them hopefully when we return to George. Sorry!
Thanks for the picture; it brought tears to my eyes. God is AWESOME. I pray that our own VBS here at MCC will be as great. I pray for the health of the team and continued success!
ReplyDeleteSo glad it is going well - 793 kids - that's amazing! There's nothing like being on mission with God in a foreign land. Can't wait to hear all the stories when the Team returns!
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