Ghana, part 2: Village of Life

We got to sleep in a little bit on Sunday morning which was a wonderful gift. I think we were all feeling much more refreshed after a good night of rest and ready to get our week with the kids kicked off. We started with church with the kids and a few adults on Sunday morning, and let me tell you that if you have never experienced church in Africa, you have not really experienced worship. It was totally amazing!!! The kids sang LOUDLY and with such passion, and the drums and the dancing, oh man, out of this world! Joseph would start a song, and before long, one of the kids would begin a conga line of sorts around the room. People would start joining in, and it seemed like the whole room was clapping and dancing. I don't know that I have ever smiled so much at church or felt so much sincere passion in worship in my life. Simply incredible. Chris presented a short message about the prodigal son that Kofi translated in Tre {the unofficial language that most of the children know} so that the children could understand. He did a fantastic job, of course, and everyone really appreciated it. Now I understand why Africans are typically in church for many hours...it's just really that good for the soul!

{Chris made me a book with pictures of Micah in it and little notes for the trip. The kids asked to see my baby, and here are a few of them posing with the album. So precious.}

After church, Gretchen had a project all ready for us to do with the kids since we wouldn't officially start our camp program until the next day. So, we made t-shirts with the kids. They turned out so cute! The kids stenciled "Village of Life 2010" on their white shirts, and then using their handprint and thumbprints, they created a tree. A tree is part of our Mercy Project logo because it symbolizes life, which is something we hope to bring to many children in Ghana through the Mercy Project. We all wore our shirts the next day for the start of camp. Some of the kids wore their shirts every single day that we were there. Such joy!

That afternoon began the epic futbol "rematch": Ghana vs. USA. The kids from the Village played against our group. These kids are serious business when it comes to futbol. They play barefoot on a field that is part {or mostly} dirt and slopes downward. They fall and get right back up without a single whine or complaint. There were no tears. I was amazed many times at how tough they were and thought that if this were kids in the USA they would all be mad at each other :) It was very refreshing and actually quite humbling. These kids who have hardly anything and have lived through terrible nightmares are so grateful just to have a place to play, no matter what it looks like or how perfect it is. I could learn {and did learn} a lot from their selfless attitudes.

Since not all of the kids could play at once, many of them formed a cheering section, complete with drums and an airhorn. They were really into the game. George Achibra {the man who rescues children for Touch A Life, among other things} was the referee, and boy was he serious!!! After an hour of regulation play and 2 overtime periods, the USA managed to pull out a victory 3-2, and you better believe that my man scored a goal :) I think everyone was pretty worn out by the end of that game.

We kicked off our first night of VBS on Sunday night with some songs, the story of the creation, a coloring page, and a craft. The kids had a great time learning the new songs. We ended the night by circling up with them outside under the stars, singing, and praying the Lord's Prayer with them. Talk about powerful! To hear little children recite this prayer brought a lot of new meaning to it. It will never be the same for me again, and I am so thankful for that. We split up and prayed over 3-4 kids and gave hugs and said goodnight.

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Monday morning, we woke up ready to go and start camp with the kids. We did the same thing for camp and VBS Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. {Wednesday varied a little bit...I'll get to that in a later post.} We got to the Village of Life in the mornings, and the kids were so excited to see us. We were always welcomed with big smiles and even bigger hugs. We would say, "Hello. How are you?" And the kids would ALWAYS reply with, "I am fine." So precious. What was even more precious was when they were all together, and Chris would be ready to get them quiet. So, he would say, "Hello children." Reply: "Hello sir." Chris: "How are you?" Reply: "We are fine. Thank you, sir." Melt me. I can still hear them saying this in my head, and I am still smiling over it! We had 3 rotations for camp--art, school, and sports--and we split the kids up based on age. They went to each rotation for about an hour and a half, so they did 2 rotations before lunch and one after lunch.

Gretchen did an amazing job getting all the crafts ready for the art time! She collected supplies and had everything totally organized and ready to go. The kids ate it up! They painted, made bracelets, did watercolor paintings, drew pictures, and even made some yarn art. It was fun to see their projects and how excited they were to show us all what they had created.

During the sports rotation, the kids played futbol, jumped rope, played follow the leader, and limbo. The sports crew definitely impressed me with their relentless energy! They were constantly on the move and made it a fun time for the kids.

I helped with the school rotation, and we really worked on basics with the kids. We did lots of alphabet and letter/sound recognition stuff with them, and even though it was really simple, they loved it. I also helped the kids make "All About Me" books which they seemed to like, and they got lots of writing practice out of it! We ended our school time on Wednesday by letting the kids have fun with some alphabet stencils and critter counters. It was fun to get the kids in small groups because I got to really know each child and their personalities. I definitely miss them!!!

After the 3 rotations, the children got to pick what to go to for the last hour or so of camp time. They could choose art, school, sports, or music. It was fun to see what the kids enjoyed doing the most! After this time was up, our group went back to the hotel to clean up before dinner while the children did their chores and prepared to take their supper. When we returned to the Village of Life, Erika always had a wonderful meal waiting for us. I will admit that I was a little nervous about the food options and had brought a hefty supply of snacks, but I was pleasantly surprised with the yummy meals. She made fish for us several times, and I was skeptical about the fish heads staring at me. However, the tilapia was actually delicious. Take a look...

After dinner, we headed down to the schoolhouse to do our VBS. Each night we got to sing songs with the kids, tell them about God's love for them through a story in scripture, and help them color and do a craft. Then came what was my favorite part of each day. We would take the kids outside, circle them up, and sing "God is so good" with them. I loved hearing their sweet voices declaring the goodness of our Lord and how He has indeed rescued them. We would then individually pray over 4 of the kids and say the Lord's Prayer together. After that, we said goodnight and "me do wo" {I love you} to the children before heading to the hotel for the night.

During our group times each evening, we were exhausted, but it was the kind of tired that brings a smile to your face. It was such a gift to love on these kids each day and pour out everything we had to give them the best experience possible. I loved feeling so tired at the end of the day and knowing that when I woke up, I would get to do it all over again!!