It's late. A very tiring, but wonderful day. You'll be happy to know that the headmaster, Greg and a couple others came back after about a 6 hour trip into town with a VAN LOAD of books. The headmaster of the school couldn't stop smiling-he said..."This is LIFE CHANGING" To which Greg responded, "That's what our church is about." And friends, it definitely will be. To go from one book per classroom to every kid having their own. Amazing. Plus, their school will now be able to attract the best teachers in the region. What happened today will have LONG RANGE effects. Parents in town started asking about where this school was and how they could get their kids there. They're keeping it a secret from the kids till tomorrow afternoon when we can present them to them as a group. I asked the pastor what he thought the kids reaction would be. He said it would be comparable to surprising an American 16 year old with a brand new car. He said...they'll go nuts! Should be fun.
Well...it happened again. I walked into a church service that was starting late. "Look, here's a pastor....he can bring us a message from the Word of God." Okay. Guess I'm up. Looks like this is becoming the norm for me in the 3rd world. Anyway, since the kids far outnumbered the adults...I decided to pull from my own reenactment of Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. My own kids love it at home for nightly Bible story....so I figured my dramatic interpretation could translate somewhat well here....though I'm not sure the rest of our team was used to seeing me get that undignified.
Throughout the afternoon we got to spend about 5 solid hours with the kids...asking and answering questions, playing, laughing, dancing. When asked if they've ever seen an American movie....their first response: CHUCK NORRIS! He's everywhere! Even in the bush of Africa.
Here's a few more random pictures from the trip so far...
Elder Stoner leading us spiritually on the plane:
Kris with her crew...
Kris and Lisa with two incredible young ladies
Bike tire hula hoopin'
Kara, missionary here we're working with, starting a dance circle with the kids. Isn't the view behind her awesome??
A good way to end the afternoon...
Okay...this is bold, but I'm going to try to upload a video and see if it works for you to download. If so, I think this should be Apple's next ad campaign. Steve Jobs ...feel free to call my cell.
If it doesn't work...you might be able to download this Quicktime file:
(if you don't have quicktime you can download for free)
Download africa_macbook.mov
That's so cool to hear the laughter of the kids seeing themselves on the computer...genuine joy!
Posted by: Eddie Mullins | September 20, 2007 at 02:36 PM
I could listen to those kids giggle for days!!!
Awesome!!
Posted by: andrea | September 20, 2007 at 03:24 PM
That is pure laughter! It really lightened my day.
Posted by: Ginny | September 20, 2007 at 07:01 PM
The kids laughing to the Photobooth pic is amazing!!! Keep the videos coming!
Posted by: DH | September 21, 2007 at 02:24 AM