All hands in! After making beaded salvation bracelets the kids and I joined in for a team huddle to celebrate being on God’s team. Each color represents the story of our salvation, from our separation because of sin, our forgiveness by Christ’s blood and finally our eternal home in heaven with God. The kids loved wearing them and saying what each color meant! 
One of the main goals of the Vacation Bible School was to equip the volunteers to lead so that the camps can become self-sustaining. The children loved to answer questions about the Bible lessons and Nonhle was one of the helpful members from the church that taught the Bible lessons in Zulu for the seven and under classroom.
I was able to continue to build trust and friendships with the children while having a ton of fun working on crafts and doing games.
The children seven and under started out each day with singing Sunday school songs and fun learning activities.
After learning about the three men in the fiery furnace the children made angels to remind them that God cares for us.On June 11, 2010 it was South Africa’s time to shine as the month long FIFA World Cup began and brought people here from all over the world. There were 32 countries represented in the World Cup and although they spoke different languages and had different cultures they all shared the same vision and goal; to watch their team take home the title as the soccer world champions. It has been a wonderful time to be in South Africa and to experience the pride and joy that the Africans have in their ability to share this beautiful country and their culture. In a country that is still recovering from strong racial discrimination, it is exciting to see nearly every nationality and race standing together cheering and celebrating. Isn’t it great how passion for a common goal can break down barriers that once seemed impossible?
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During the World Cup, God opened opportunities for members of the Lutheran church, volunteers, and my missionary partner Shara and I to create and run a three week long Vacation Bible School. Since the schools closed for the entire month of the World Cup, we were able to use the time with the children to share Bible lessons and give the children a safe place to learn and play. We had 60-100 children each day ages 2-14, so we were able to build many more relationships with the youth in the community.
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Throughout this time the youth learned about God’s power by his creation and miracles, Christ’s love for us in the way he treated people and taught during his life, and ultimately about Christ’s power as God when he took away our sins on the cross and then rose from the dead on Easter. Many of the children are not familiar with commonly shared Bible stories, so it was great to see them learning, acting out the lessons and taking home crafts to share with their families. Daniel in the Lion’s Den as well as the parables of the lost sheep and Good Samaritan were among some of the children’s favorite parts of the Bible to learn about and helped the children to see how God has always been faithful throughout time. We also learned about Christ’s baptism and how the Holy Spirit helps us and several of the little children wanted to know more about how to get baptized!
Throughout this time the youth learned about God’s power by his creation and miracles, Christ’s love for us in the way he treated people and taught during his life, and ultimately about Christ’s power as God when he took away our sins on the cross and then rose from the dead on Easter. Many of the children are not familiar with commonly shared Bible stories, so it was great to see them learning, acting out the lessons and taking home crafts to share with their families. Daniel in the Lion’s Den as well as the parables of the lost sheep and Good Samaritan were among some of the children’s favorite parts of the Bible to learn about and helped the children to see how God has always been faithful throughout time. We also learned about Christ’s baptism and how the Holy Spirit helps us and several of the little children wanted to know more about how to get baptized!
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No matter what challenges these children face our goal is to always show them how incredibly valuable they are to Christ. Whether or not they have been orphaned, face discrimination or other challenges due to poverty, they are God’s dearly loved children. By grace through faith these are our brothers and sisters in Christ and how awesome it is to share with them that they are victorious, because Christ won the battle over sin, death and the devil for us. Even when we go away from that truth God calls us back because God is faithful.
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When we unite around the passion of sharing God’s love, forgiveness and salvation we get to celebrate the fact that we already are victorious and our prize will be celebrated throughout eternity. May our churches look as diverse as sports stadiums, and our passion to share salvation through Christ, give us even more excitement than the winning goal of the World Cup! Thank you for your continued prayers and support throughout my time here. I am very blessed to have you as a partner in this ministry!
Love and blessings in Christ now and always,
Julia
Sala kahle!
(Stay well!)
“However I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”
(Acts 20:24)
Julia
Sala kahle!
(Stay well!)
“However I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”
(Acts 20:24)
