3-20-08
8am – South African Time
Update by Megan Eastland

Good morning! It’s 8am Thursday morning African time and I’m writing from a little coffee shop near the beach where we are all grabbing breakfast before a work day at Jehovah Jireh. It’s a rainy day, but the scenery is still breathtaking!

I don’t have much time to write this morning, but I wanted to make sure to let you know about the incredibly awesome end to camp! On Tuesday night, we did the gospel presentation night. It was far greater than our plans and expectations! We began with worship with guitar and voices, and the kids jumped, danced and sang so loudly, and then immediately the team came up and performed the “Everything” by Lifehouse skit found on Godtube. It was amazing! The kids cheered through the skit and were riveted!

After that Schaun came up and spoke about how we are all “Jessi” in that skit (she played the lead girl,) how we all struggle with the sins portrayed in the skit, and how Jesus saves! He shared a very clear gospel presentation about sin, redemption, and salvation. Over music he had the kids write down their sins on paper and then tape them to a cross at the front of the room. He had those that wanted to make Jesus their Lord to pray with him, and so, so many prayed with him! He shared that some of the kids had a natural birthday that day, but many had a spiritual birthday that day. He had everyone who prayed the prayer for the first time come to the stage and the stage was filled. We sang happy birthday and then had a giant birthday party outside with blaring music, chips, cookies, and soda! It was a blast!

We know that probably not every child on the stage truly understood what they were doing, but we do know that some definitely did! Each of the rooms met later with their leaders and they talked through again what the message was, their decisions, and made sure that the kids understood the best they could. We definitely gained some new brothers and sisters in Christ Tuesday night!

The next morning, we did a few crafts with the kids, including braiding salvation bracelets, with each color representing part of the gospel, and then finished with the last sessions by Joshua and Travis. Joshua spoke on sex, abstinence, and AIDS info. The kids were the most engaged than they had been yet. We knew that this was a topic that all of them had dealt with. It was so sad to hear about how many little girls (7-8) that had already been approached by men who tried to pull them into the bushes or other places to rape them. All of them but one said they got away, but we guess that some of them weren’t being totally honest. It broke many of our leaders’ hearts to look at their little kids and know that they have to deal with the reality of saying “No!” to men that would be punished so severely in the United States, but that they don’t know any other culture. Schaun spoke to the boys that it is NOT ok to rape. And then Schaun and Pam did a role play of Pam pulling away from Schaun and screaming “NO!” Little Pam even pushed Schaun over and flew into a bunch of kids! It was powerful!

Travis spoke on “what to do next” and how to prepare for spiritual warfare in the days ahead. The kids were engaged, but also were very sad that the camp was coming to a close. After this session we all sang “Awesome God” together, and then the Americans formed a long receiving line and we hugged every single child as they filed to their buses to go home. There were many tears, but also many smiles and so many relationships that we will all cherish!

After that we had some precious free time before a nice dinner on the beach (a great break after camp food with small portions!) We had a team debrief where we were finally able to process through some of the things we had experienced. Our hearts were so broken for the kids with HIV, the 7am and 7pm ARV meds, the raped and molested girls, the orphaned children, and the plight of many of the black South Africans. However, our hearts were filled with joy that we got to touch, love, hug, care and hope for these children for these short days– probably in a way that few had ever experienced. We know that while American kids have the options to go to many camps every summer, this may be the only one some of them will ever get to experience! Jesus entered the hearts of many of them for the first time, and we were the ones that got to be the ones that “set the table.” We prepared, we loved, we asked, we taught– but we knew that God alone did the work, changing them from the inside out.

Please pray that the roots of these new faiths grow deep. For protection for the new believers. For other teachers to enter their lives to teach and disciple them. For the work that Dan and Kristi are doing, that God multiplies the work and expands their ministries. That God brings more people to fund and to work and to be the voices of these little South Africans. That we all can be a part of doing God’s work, and God’s compassion, and God’s mercy and God’s grace. Also, please pray for continued team stamina and attitudes. Now that camp is over, we are all very tired, but excited for another day to spend with the Jehovah Jireh kids. Two more work days at JJ, and one day at the Elephant Park, and then we hop a plane to start the 2-day journey home!

A few personal shout outs from a couple team members:

Brandon, Melanie loves you very much.

Joshua wanted to make sure I shared (he asked me twice!) that Rachel felt their baby kick for the first time when all the African women started singing when we were at the Seaview church. Apparently their little one really likes their music!