Kayla Balangue

It’s been another fabulous day here in Africa! Holly, Liv, and Noah have joined forces to write today’s update. We hope you enjoy!! 🙂 

I’d like to recap on our day at the lion park. We met a 200 year old tortoise named Tommy. He literally has a sign on his shell saying “Please do not sit on Tommy”. Another great experience what getting to hold chameleons. One was named SpongeBob which I can’t get over. It was hilarious. 

Now back to today, June 2nd. It was our first day of our 2nd week of camp. Teagan and I ran the team Sharks this week and we have 3 girls with the same name on our team. Also to recap…. Last night we found a STICK BUG!!! We named him Gibby and he was awesome. The local leaders were absolutely disgusted by Gibby but we thought it was great. What’s cool is he didn’t move and was in the exact same spot 24 hours later so we got to say “Hi” to Gibby again tonight. Today was a fabulous day and it’s a lot easier for us to connect with the kids this week with experience up our sleeves now. 

That’s it for me Holly! 

This morning we woke up and did our usual routine of serving the kids breakfast and eating all together. All the leaders gathered for a wonderful devotional led by Stuart, one of the local staff members, on Philippians 3. 

We prepped for some of the day’s activities and headed to morning praise and Bible story. Singing and dancing with the kids was definitely the highlight of my (Liv) day! The joy of the Lord has been so evident during our time here. 

Eva and Farnum led the Bible story on the Parable of the Sower and taught Psalm 119:11 as the memory verse. It’s amazing seeing the kids devote themselves to learning Scripture. 

Today’s craft was making flower seed art! It was cool to see each kids unique personality and character show through their art. Recreation games were musical chairs and water balloon hot potato. These kids seem to be much more mellow than our last group, so rallying them up for games really helps them open up. 

We ended the morning with a delicious lunch all together and prepared to have an amazing afternoon! Thats all for me, Liv, on to Noah! 

In the afternoon, we played water games with the kids, then went to the other side of the camp to play a new game (it’s worth mentioning here that with roles getting moved around after some of last weeks leaders left, Alyssa has stepped into a position where she leads most of the Camp, and I have shifted to help lead activities). The new game we played was a tire stacking game, where 5 numbered tires have to be moved from one of three poles to another. The catch is that you can’t put a larger number on top of a smaller number. It was a really fun mind game to watch everyone play!

When the evening came around, me and some of the team told the story of Jonah to the kids (in skit fashion, to make it more entertaining). After they went to bed, us leaders met and talked about our first day of this week. Then, I sat down to play solitaire, and decided to write today’s blog with Holly and Liv! Overall, it was a really good day. 

Please pray against homesickness or any anxiety or other sickness that could hinder our ministry to these kids. Besides that, we’re thankful that we started the week on a high note! 

That’s all from us! God bless!

Holly, Liv, and Noah

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

Hey there, it’s Eva! Today has been such a blessed day, definitely one for the books! From it being our last day with the kids at VBS to having the most incredible time at the Lion Park, it’s been non stop excitement.

We started the morning off with a delicious breakfast with the kids. The food has been so good and pretty healthy, in my opinion!

After breakfast, we headed out to the field for one last group photo with all the leaders and kids. Soon after, we played with the kids one final time before sending them off. It’s been such a heartfelt week, from helping them learn their memory verse to teaching them new games and them teaching me new things along the way.

Once the kids left, we packed up and headed to the Lion Park! It was a bit of a drive, but absolutely worth it. As soon as we arrived, we drove through this massive “park,” and the first thing we saw was a gazelle, followed by some pretty zebras. It really felt like we were in another beautiful country.

We made it to the top of a mountain where you could see everything God truly created the most beautiful places! On our way down the mountain, we ran into a giraffe, which was the cherry on top (it’s one of my favorite animals). We kept driving a little longer and finally entered the lions’ enclosure! It was a huge cage you drive through, and we got as close as possible to the lions of course, keeping the windows shut and the doors locked. Don’t worry, we were as safe as possible!

As we turned into the enclosure, boom there were two lions lying on a rock. We kept going, with my car and the other car (because there were too many of us to fit in one vehicle). We got within five feet of those lions, it was AMAZING to see these majestic animals up close! The closer we got, the more lions we saw, both males and females. Now that was the real cherry on top.

After this incredible experience, we went to the park’s animal area, where we saw everything from hyenas to crocodiles, monkeys, more lions, and so many other species.

After this long but amazing day, we headed back and had dinner. Later, we had a short but meaningful devotion led by Olivia about encouragement. Now, we’re winding down and about to head to bed, feeling so full of gratitude for everything today brought.