Kid Love (Day 5)

Saturday the conference continued, but I enjoyed staying outside with the children and Erica and Kendal. We got up after a night of little sleep. The women began singing in their rooms next door and than prayed passionately. I read my Bible out on the school benches in the cool of the morning. Believe it or not, I felt a little chili at times. The golden orange sun came up, promising to warm up the day to high temperatures again.

After breakfast, the conference began and Erica, Kendal, and I got ready for the VBS along with some other folks. We set up school benches in the shade in front of the church and began handing out pictures and crayons for the children to color. They got quite intense with their coloring, and they do quite a good job. After a while of that, Serge, another interpreter and friend, introduced the Bible story that I was going to tell and then introduced me. The children began chanting, "Elisabeth, welcome! Elisabeth, welcome!" I've never gotten such a an enthusiastic greeting ( definitely not by the kids at my home church when I helped with VBS there).

Then I told the story of Joshua and Jericho, and once again, we asked for several volunteers to come forward and march around "Jericho" (a school bench!). They marched several times until it was time for them to blow their paper trumpets and shout. Boy, did they shout! The children got so loud that the ladies from the conference had to come out to tell us to be quite. It was fun to see the children's enthusiasm. After that, the boys went off to play soccer and the girls did a little jump-roping, but before long, many of them were coloring again. I joined in, and several children gathered around to watch me.

Eventually, we had our lunch/dinner and then hung out under the trees by the kitchen, playing with the children. We went for another walk to the river, and this time, we actually walked in the water. After another dinner, we went to the evening service and finally, to bed.
Another wonderful day had ended.

Sunrise 

Our sleeping quarters.

One of the beautiful views of the not-so-distant mountains.

Where we slept. My bed is the greenish yellow one. 

Getting ready for VBS. 

The coloring begins. 

Look at that intense face. 

The jumping rope didn't last long. 

One of my lovely young friends.

Another beautiful young lady. 

Hanging out with Kendal, Erica, and the children. 

Serge doing an Easter thing with the kids. 

Several of the kids lined up at the door of the church, waiting for the conference to end. 

This may look like a pile of trash, and in a sense, it is. However, it isn't ordinary. The conference ladies wrote things on pieces of paper that they didn't want in their lives anymore (sins or things they struggle with), then they tore them up at the altar. It was a pretty neat visual reminder that God works in us, and that the Spirit changes us and gets rid of the trash in our hearts. 

The older boys playing soccer. 

When we were down in the river, the ladies tried to get Kendal to carry his wife back. When he did, they burst into laughter. 

A young lady who walked back from the river with me and pointed out things, telling me the Creole words for them. 

It's hard to see much in this picture, but the people were really getting into the worship. 

I still have more to tell, so keep tuned.