day 88: camp begins!!

day 1 of camp was a GREAT SUCCESS!!

when i woke up this am, i checked the forecast & it was supposed to be pouring all day long. so, after  suiting up with long johns, warm pants, a long-sleeved shirt, a t-shirt, hoodie, gloves, fleece socks, rainboots & coffee in hand i was ready to go! crazy, huh?

our cape town team met up to caravan over to the school where we'd meet the volunteer team from sc. the good news had already begun: "the principal is awake!" haha...oh, the things you have to make sure of here.

once we arrived at the school, we only had to wait a few minutes before the gates were unlocked & we were able to unload, set up, pray & "man our posts." by the time we'd specified to begin, there was an unspoken sense of disappointment in the air as only 10 kids or so were there. but...we continued as planned confident that greater things were yet to come!

the pastor who has been team-teaching in those 2 schools with bruce got in his car and hit the streets where he ran into kids everywhere who assumed camp was cancelled because of the rain. meanwhile, back at camp, everytime we turned around, kids were streaming in. 4 car loads & a few hours later we were up to around 107 kids!! (not to mention aside from slight drizzling here & there, the SUN CAME OUT & the clouds rolled away!)

soon after one of our xhosa translators shared her testimony with the students (& did an INCREDIBLE job), she had to leave with the pastor. some people from their church arrived asking for help with someone who was "demon-possessed." regardless of what you believe about that, it was evident that the evil one was at work. this lady who left had a GIFT WITH YOUNG PEOPLE. but...our God is greater & He did some incredible things anyway!!

(center) xhosa translator sharing her testimony. this was also 1 of the ladies who had to leave early
(center right) 4 of the 5 in the picture either made decisions for Christ today or asked for us to visit their homes soon.

we had a great day filled with lots of laughter & many things to celebrate:
- a huge group of learners stepped out to say they wanted to become children of God. while we do not know how many of these were simply following the crowd, we do now have their permission to visit their homes...as well as their "addresses" (street name & shack #). PRAY that we will find a way to visit as many of these learners as possible in the upcoming terms.

- as i was asking another of our xhosa translators if she'd be willing to share her testimony with the students during snack time, she voiced (without any prompting from me at all) great interest in getting further involved. she said, "i'd very much like to visit with you in the learners' homes...let me give you my contact information." she went on to explain that even though she works 8-4:30 mon-fri AND has a 13-year old daughter of her own, she wants to work with us on saturdays. so, PRAISE the Lord for what seems to be a national partner stepping up! PRAY for "S" - that the Lord would continue to stir within her a desire to reach the xhosa youth of her community!