Know Their Story is Live!
GO Trips
Malawi-2023
Malawi 2023 – July 26
July 26, 2023
Helping at GBC’s VBS started today! The team woke up, ate breakfast, and headed out to the church at a later time than the past few days. As we were driving, children started running alongside our bus down the road. They followed us to the church where they cheered when we exited the bus.
The first thing we did was set up soccer goals and a stage. The kids played follow the leader early in the morning. This turned out to be so much fun and very easy with the language barrier. They also enjoyed playing soccer while we got everything set up in the tents. They all decided to crowd under one tent, so we had to do some rearranging. We ended the day with around 210 children.
The kids enjoyed singing and sat well through the skit. We did not have enough visors again for craft, so we used some bags as well. Not only did the kids draw and write their names on these, they also enjoyed putting the markers in their mouths.
After craft, everyone went to recreation in different stations. The stations involved tug-of-war/rope games, soccer, races, and one group watched little kids who weren’t enjoying playing or watching. This station was also difficult due to the language barrier, but they seemed to have a great time. We are especially thankful to the translators that were present and the mothers who stayed.
Next, we sang a few songs before the lesson. It is funny how different these kids are from the group at RBC. They listened well during the lesson and skit but didn’t enjoy the music as much. Jimmy preached, but only the translator spoke into the microphone due to the low number of English speakers.
We sang one more song to close, but the food wasn’t ready yet. Daniel kept them entertained while they waited. The lines for snack were crowded, and it got a little crazy at moments (Karter got mobbed while he had candy). The team was provided lunch by Patricia once the kids had food.
After VBS, the team took a quick break at Newton’s house to change clothes before hopping back on the bus to go to a game ranch with Kondi’s family. There we saw many animals from places such as the Amazon and India. We had a tour guide that led us through. Many of the animals were not in cages. We walked along the same paths with zebras and ostriches. It was super cool.
We then made our way to Kondi’s house. We spent some time playing frisbee and looking over the barrier wall. The locals were friendly even with the language barrier. Patricia made us a feast! We even had ice cream to end the evening.
Once we were back at Newton’s, we held devotionals, discussed tomorrow’s plans, and made many bracelets to give the kids. The power went out a few times, but it returned quickly every time. Though, some people took showers in the dark.
We request you pray for our team’s health. We have more members becoming sick, but no one is seriously ill, and we have had one member who has recovered. Of course, we ask that you pray for the hearts of the children and for God to be glorified. We have one more day of VBS to go, and the conference starts tomorrow!
