Mamu kaseeeee!!! (Good morning)
it’s Alyssa here!
Today was Sunday so we all went to one of Hands or Hope’s partner churches. The church was Nazarene and had a Pentecostal/charismatic feel, so I know I can speak for Liv and I that we felt comfortable being there since we both attend more charismatic churches.
Farnum gave a short word and then Noah and Holly shared short testimonies. They both did incredible, as their student leader I was so proud, especially for how they both came out of their shell. It made me so happy to watch; the congregation was engaged as well!
After church we all got to split up and go with some of the local leaders to the neighborhoods where the kids live. Liv and I went to one of the kids houses that was on our team for the first week. His name is Tino (short for tinotenda which means thanks/thank you). We went in and sat on the floor as it is customary for the women to enter first and sit on the floor, and then men sit on a chair. Then we had the opportunity to pray for his mother and Olivia prayed powerfully over her, and her amazing son. This was really special for the Jessup students and was very eye opening.
After that we said our official goodbyes to the first group of kids. One of the boys gave Natalie a paper heart and said “my heart is yours.” That was pretty funny.
Then we came back to the compound and got ready for the second group of kids to come. We did a short introductory night session with them. We shared the 3 little pigs story and sang a worship song about following Jesus. I was quite nervous as Helen is not with us since she is sick, and I have been stepping in her place. But, with the support of our team and the local team, I really had nothing to worry about. We ended the night playing a big game of spoons with all the local leaders, including the new ones (I won by the way).
We have some great leaders and it’s been awesome to see everyone shine in their own ways. We are all feeling much better at this point, and I just love this team a lot!
Prayer requests:
“Pray for slay” – Olivia
& health – also Olivia
Continuous energy to thrive in this next week of VBS – Holly
