Jambo (Hello) Everyone!
Today was our first full day working at the Courage house and interacting with the girls and staff. Each and every part of our trip so far has been such a blessing and leaves me in awe of all that God is doing!
When we first arrived (yesterday) we were able to get settled in our hotels then drove about 10 minutes to the Courage house. Once there we took at tour of the building, met the staff and finally got to meet the girls. Each and every one of them greeted us with such joy and genuine hospitality. When we first met the girls many of them came up to different team members and started calling us “rafiki” which means friend in Swahili. From there we got to chat with the girls and learn their names as they learned ours. After that we met with Stephanie (our fieldworker) and her husband and they shared with us all about Courage Worldwide and the work they are doing. At this point many of us were fighting the exhaustion from travel so we headed back to our hotel and got some good sleep to catch up from the jet lag.
That brings us to today! And wow! Today was so amazing! Despite all of us adjusting to the warmer humidity weather we got to enjoy team time early in the morning where Cole led our devotional and it was a great time for the team to reset and prepare for the day. When we arrived to the house, we got to hear a testimony from one of the Courage workers and the girls led us in songs of worship in Swahili. From there we learned our dance that Tarah and Ellie choreographed with the girls which they loved. Next, we went over the teaching for our VBS which was about the Fruit of the Spirit. We then went further in depth and talked more about what love, joy, and peace means. Once we finished the teaching we jumped into our stations where we played games and sports, made bracelets and colored. After that, we enjoyed a traditional lunch native to our area which consisted of corn and beans that were boiled together for hours topped with cabbage and fresh avocado. After that we hopped into stations again and really enjoyed getting to know all the girls and their beautiful personalities. Once stations were done Marilyn told the girls a Bible story and we did a free time where we played more games, did puzzles and my personal favorite part was when we all played outside and danced with everyone even the staff working. The girls taught us some of their songs and dances and then asked us to teach them some of ours which was so fun! Lastly, we ate dinner and had some more team time to talk about our day and we’re off to bed!
It was so amazing to see each and every team member connect with the girls in their own way and I can’t wait to see how God continues to use this team!
Many Blessings,
Preslie & the East Africa Team
Awesome!!!!