Summer camp in the village

Because summer is the time for farming community children to help their parents in the field, I was wondering if kids would come to camp. Surprisingly, the turnout was great. The first week, July 24-29, was using soccer and Bible stories. While kids came to camp to play soccer and were not necessarily interested in hearing the Gospel or about God, I was able to share Bible stories of Cain and Abel, Noah and the Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham and Isaac to challenge the campers to listen to God and do good. Since the majority of the campers came from homes with no background in Christianity, this camp was the first time many of the campers heard these stories and were able to ask some questions.

   

The second week of camp, July 31-August 4, was structured around three stations: Bible, soccer, and games. The excitement on their faces showed how eager they were to join in this special week of camp. At the beginning of the week there were around 100 campers and by the end of the week around 130, ranging from 3-14 years old. We were amazed at the turnout since it is prime time for farming work. We started camp at 3pm each day so that kids could go to the fields to work early in the mornings and still be able to participate in the camp (some kids started showing up as early as 1pm because they were so excited…but they were told to not neglect their field work and just come at the right time!). The rain almost prevented us from doing camp a couple of days, but although we started late, God intervened and the rain stopped for us to have camp.

 

The theme of the second week of camp was God’s story of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration, as well as our response to His story. On the last day of camp, the kids were asked to come forward and pray if they wanted to follow Jesus…and around 100 of the 130 kids went forward. We don’t know how many of those were already following Jesus or how many were making a genuine decision, but our prayer is that God will use this week of camp in a lasting way for His glory. The kids were encouraged to go to church if they weren’t already attending one.

One thing we do know is that the kids clearly enjoyed their time at camp. They listened intently to God's story, eagerly participated in the games and soccer, and appreciated the snacks we gave them. They were very disappointed that camp wasn’t going to continue.

 

We are thankful for the two other individuals who helped out, one young man from Koudjo’s church in the village and another young man who is from Koudjo’s village but now is a teacher here in the city. With just 4 of us trying to manage as many as 130 energetic and excited kids, it was a bit chaotic at times but that made us just so much more thankful for the two others who helped out.

 

We give thanks to God for the two weeks of camp. With this sports ministry, we are planting seeds as in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-8). Please pray the seed that fell on the good soil through this camp will produce fruit and that many will follow Christ with their lives.

 

Even little ones joined in on their siblings backs!

More Photos and Videos:

Overview of first day of camp

Singing a song the Bible teacher taught them

Bible station

Soccer station

Game station

Whole group Four Corners = the favorite

Koudjo having fun with the kids