Kid's Club and Tammy

What a blessing the last three days have been. We held a three-day event called Kid's Club at the Mission House. In the States we call it VBS. Each day we had an average of 140 to 150 kids, ranging from the age of 2 through 19. New kids came each day.

These kids are so hungry to hear the Word and to receive the Lord; even with the challenges they face, they are full of joy.

We received so many different responses from the kids in the village about us Wazungu's (meaning white people. Some are so scared of us because they have never seen a white person so they would cry and run from us, but some are so fascinated they want to touch you and hug you, hold your hand and follow you all around. It was so funny, some of the girls kept wanting to touch my hair.

Harold and Coni have done an excellent job discipling a group of Youth nationals (meaning Tanzanians) to step in to leadership and to run the Kid's club on their own and to disciple other kids on their own but not by themselves, they receive continual discipling from Harold and Coni.

There is currently a team of college students from the "William Jessup University" here doing missions as well. So between the Kid's Club leaders and the WJU students they put together and ran the daily programming of the Kid's Club activities. I did not have to do much except sit in on their planning and throw a few ideas out to them and they would take the idea and make it their own and run with it. It was so wonderful to watch the team work.

A daily program would consist of game time then praise and worship. Boy do the Tanzanian people know how to praise and dance for the Lord during worship. They then would do a different Bible story each day. Day 1 was told through a drama skit. Day 2was using puppets. Day 3 was using a flannel graph.

The most impactful part of the three days for me was when they were offered to accept Jesus into their lives and led through a prayer for salvation. All three days there were at least 20 new kids giving their lives to Christ. That experience alone was worth the whole trip for me. Praise God!!!

After the altar call the kids were encouraged to see a Kid's Club leader to let them know that they had made that choice for their first time. The leaders came at the end of the day with great reports of the kids coming to them.

The next step of the program the kids would break up into two different age groups and work on a memory verse and a craft. At the end of the program they would have to tell the kids it was time to leave because they did not want to leave.

After they would finally get the mission center cleared out, the Kid's Club leaders and the WJU students would huddle and review the day and then received a teaching from Jim on their first day of Kid's Club out of Jeremiah Chapter 1-6. To see their faces, they are so open to receive the Word of God.

God is truly working through "Hope of The Nations" to train up leaders to go out and spread God's word to their fellow Tanzanians.

I also got to experience the Kid's Club drama team. They travel to local churches and youth groups to do their performances. The one skit was awed over was called "King of Hearts"; I did video tape it so if anyone would like to see it please feel free to ask me.

Next week the Kid's Club will be doing outreach in Kamala. The WJU students will be living out in Kamala in tents all week doing the program out there. If you ever want to experience just a little of what it may have been like to live in the Bible days come to Kigoma and live for a while. There is no power 95% of the time; some of the people have no power or water. No grocery stores at all. You shop on the street at road side stands. You want fish or chicken for dinner they go catch it, unless you can find it at the street market. They cook outside here over an open fire as well as a one-burner kerosene burner.

This whole mission trip has not only been a blessing to my Spirit, but has brought an awareness of how good of a tangible lifestyle I live but miss the mark on simplicity.