The missions team brought some Jesus in the form of VBS to the children in Swaziland. The gospel was shared. We brought crafts, games, snacks and face painting. We brought some cute puppets that told the Prodigal Son story along with some fun balloons.
Our team leader said over and over that we needed to be flexible. After all ...."This is Africa." God had other things to show me too. Being the VBS coordinator, I tried to gather the best of provisions. We had a very talented team assembled. What I noticed with our team members was that we had all checked our agendas at the front gate. On VBS day we assembled into our different areas to bring happiness and Jesus to them.
There was face painting and games.
Crafts!
Balloons!
And puppets presented the Bible story
God taught me a lesson in all this too. That day He allowed the kids to be kids. They got to play...like kids need to do. Kids need to be kids. Rest is important.
On most days these children are thrust into a world of unwarranted adulthood.
On most days these children are thrust into a world of unwarranted adulthood.
Most of these littles have a life of strife that we will never know. Their daily is full of impoverishment that is indigenous to their country. Their little eyes have seen more hurt than I can imagine. If only for a few hours, they escaped. This day brought hope. It brought a message that God is good, that God loves, and it's okay to play. With God's help we delivered smiles. That makes me smile.
3 comments:
Thanks for sharing your experiences and playing with the children!!
Thanks for that reminder! Sometimes as a Mommy with little kids, it's easy for the fun to seep out of us at times and even I forget to just let down, have fun, and PLAY with them! :)
Bless you Janelle for putting beautiful smiles on these beautiful faces.
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