The battle continues, this time at a rural school well outside Mokopane! We have had some long days of ministry with the Centershot team. With our mornings beginning between 430 to 545 for breakfast it is getting a little harder each morning to get up. We are very thankful for the answer to prayer for the health of our team. Today we were still missing Anna who had been the most sick the day before. She had improved but was still recovering today. Grace was also still not feeling well today. Everyone else who had been ill showed up at breakfast and was ready to serve. That was a blessing as today as this was a pretty big rural school that we were serving at with about 800 students. The plan was to have them all shoot and participate in a Bible study. At this point I don’t know exactly how many we had come through but we believe we had everyone in the school! It was a seemingly endless stream of 60 kids at a time coming to be split into two groups for us to work with. After the second group went through we were able to make some good adjustments and things flowed pretty well for the rest of the day. The archery is always a blast as the vast majority of these kids had never shot a bow before. Their jumping for joy and screams are incredible for just taking a shot. You can only imagine when the arrow actually hits somewhere close to the bullseye! That is the way the whole day seemed to go on the archery range.
I need to back up a little. I should tell you about how the school looks and a little about the area. We were outside Mokopane about half an hour in an area that seemed to have livestock randomly walking everywhere. Goats, chickens, cows, donkeys, and the like seem to be free in amongst the broken down homes that are all around. It didn’t really seem rural in some ways but more like a small town with a pretty big school, at least numbers wise. Driving into the school yard there was even goats and a donkey walking around free on their property. The school was a collection of small one or two room type school buildings built around a courtyard and included other random school buildings on the yard too. It sure didn’t look like much of a high school when you drive in! As we picked a spot to set up it sure didn't feel very homey and the unkept area didn’t seem like it would be conducive to having such a great time with the kids. It is amazing how setting up an archery range can chance your perspective and by mid morning it seems kinda like home. We used two beat up old volleyball courts. We were able to use some curtains to keep arrows from flying into the taller grass by securing the curtains to the poles. Good thing we did that, as we have never seen more kids miss the targets at only 7 metres away.
To start the day we were welcomed by the teachers and the principal. We were able to do a brief gospel presentation at the opening assembly where all the kids were packed into the courtyard to sing and hear morning announcements. The principal gave an interesting welcome to us that included his wishes for us to instil in the kids the saving power of Jesus Christ. You would never hear that in a high school in Regina! He also made mention to us to be sure to bring back whatever resources we could to donate to them in the future. He would like to establish a strong partnership! This sounds like quite the open door for this school to establish a Centershot program in. It was even interesting that he noticed the many cameras hanging around our necks and said that this poor school does not even have one camera for their own use. Boy, do we take things for granted.
One man that we met who is filled with joy and loves these kids so much is Happy. Yes, that right his name is Happy and yes, he is happy! Clear? He is a youth pastor or perhaps just a pastor at a nearby church and works closely with this school. He was a joy to talk to and his love for the kids is obvious. He told me how a day like this will be remembered for years by these kids. “It means so much to them all that you would come so far and spend time with them. This kind of special day at school might only happen once every three years,” he told me. While talking with the kids and asking them about their faith many of them would mention Happy and say they go to his church. I even had one whole group who all put their hands up when I asked them if they had asked Jesus into their hearts. They told me it was because of Happy! What a great man!
One other praise item that is certainly worth sharing is about a young man who gave his life to Jesus today! We don’t really know how many others have done this on our trip but this one story we know of for sure and it really makes the whole trip worthwhile in and of itself. I noticed Ryan talking for quite awhile with one young man right in the middle of the waiting area on the range. He later told me that they had been shooting together and were just joking around but then the conversation took a 180 degree turn and Ryan found himself discussing spiritual things with him. It seemed that he was struggling with some of these issues for some time and continued to ask Ryan more questions even though as Ryan said, “it was at the point where often kids just thank you and walk away.” In the end Ryan was able to pray with him and he accepted Jesus Christ as his Saviour right there on our archery range! How exciting is that! Ryan told me that in all his missions experiences of conversions that this young mans was the most sincere one he has ever seen. Not to downplay other people conversions, but this was clearly not a spur of the moment decision based on emotion or peer pressure. Just shows we all need to be ready to have these conversations, not just on the mission field, but everywhere we go. I was so happy that I had snapped a picture of Ryan talking with him. I knew it looked like a serious conversation and I hoped that he was accepting Christ but was not able to know until this evening at supper. It would be nice to send him this picture of the beginning of his new life in Christ. Perhaps I can figure out way to do that, but for now I am so pleased to be able to share it with you!
As we drove back to the lodge after a long day it was with a sense of accomplishment. It was fun to hear Danielle spending time talking and acting silly with our two girls in the back row of our vehicle. I have never heard so many silly songs in an hour drive! No man should! By about half way home I have to admit they were driving me nuts! But knowing that they are joyful after a long day of serving and that they are creating relationships with quality people who love the Lord kept me silent, for the most part!
So excited to hear about the young man who accepted Christ, our prayers will be with him! Trusting God to continue to lead and guide you and give you opportunities to share His love!
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