We were up early, after our 1st full night in Webuye & after the team was brought to Bishop Alex's home, we immediately left to begin our sports ministry program in 2 schools. The idea of the sports ministry was to be able to hold teaching, ministry & competitions on site at the different schools, then join all the different schools & winners of the competitions together for the finals & trophy/medal awards presentation. So we went 1st off to a private, primary (elementary) school that is called Milo Academy. The children were many and we were very well received. This experience and many others to follow were just like you imagine, with scores of kids running after our vehicles with so much hope, joy & expectation in their eyes. It was truly touching, genuine & flattering. None of us really felt like we deserved such a reception, but I think their energy & joy really inspired us to give the best we had and really dig down deep to bless them as much as we could in the short time we were there.
The school had relatively nice facilities, for Kenyan standards, and many of the children spoke English (along with their 'mother tongue' Swahili). We were only at Milo a short time & really only introduced ourselves and built up the Sports Ministry program for a later date as we were told we would be coming back on Monday. We were also expected at another private school in Webuye later that same morning, and at that school (Matula Secondary), we'd only get 1 chance, and 1 day to hold the program as they were finishing their term.
The kids at Milo were excited and very responsive. Patty taught them a quick song & choreography in Spanish, and the kids picked it up quickly. The instroductions were very formal & the school felt it necessary to introduce the entire staff & each one said something briefly. We eventually got away, and again the kids trailed the vehicle all the way to the main road.
We immediately then went to Matula Academy in Webuye proper. It seems like there are hundreds of schools (for the 1000s of kids you see here). Many of them are private, boarding schools. Matula was quite small and here we would be talking to the older teens. After another lengthy introduction session we took over the program and it was apparent right from the beginning God was with us. Larry shared a bit on the purpose of the sports ministry program and the concepts we'd hoped to transmit through the competitions. Some of the concepts "Kids Games" & "Teen Games," tries to impart to its participants are:
1) The idea of playing as a champion regardless of the final outcome of the competition.
2) The importance of playing as a team to achive more - that a team victory or solid potential is more important than standing out individually.
3) Significance - That each team member is a complement & important to the success to the overall team
4) Giving our best effort regardless of the odds against us - leaving everything on the field.
5) Carrying these same principles over to life.
etc.
While these concepts are almost redundant in most of Western culture, in Africa & other cultures to many they are new & challenging ideas.
Then Roberto shared a very challenging word about making good decisions, both on the field and in life. He emphasized how God sees each one with a tremendous potential to be realized. He really motivated the teens that all kinds of people will discourage them and tell them they can't possibly reach their goals & dreams, but that God wants to do new things in Kenya & wants to use them to transform Kenyan society and the rest of the world! He tied this into the importance of making correct decisions & that life isn't about luck or dependant upon what kind of circumstances I was born into, but that God wants to do new things through us if we are willing to trust him and make good decisions with our lives. Roberto also talked a lot about having a good attitude regardless and that our outlook & attitude will determine our success in many situations.
It was very good, just what the kdis needed and they really ate it up.
We gave one last example of Zinidane Zidane, the French footballer (soccer player), who was the French captain, a champion at all levels & probably the best French player even when he retired after the last World Cup. He had lead his team to the finals with a unprobable final match with Italy. It was to be his last match as a professional and his team had played hard for the entire match. Then in the 2nd half, after having been provoked, he lost control and blatantly head-butted an Italian defenseman in the chest. He was red carded and immediately sent off. As a result his team had to play the rest of the match a man down & they eventually lost. That was everyone's last memory of Zidane.
Your decisions & attitudes have consequences was the final message - on the field and in life.
After the teaching they had lunch and we began the 1 round competitions at Matulo:
- Girls volleyball
- Boys soccer (football)
- 100m girls & boys
The winners were decided & were told they would compete the following week against other schools in the area.
We wrapped up around 3 and from there went to have lunch at Bishop Alex's home.
If we're honest we were all really concerned about eating African food, but Kenyan food, at least the food we were served was spectacular. Staples in Western Kenya are sweet potatoes, corn & ugalis which is like grits with no seasoning. We were served for almost every meal thick tortillas (more similar to pancakes), with either well seasoned chicken or beef, fried cabbage salad (which is outta sight), rice & sweet potatoes or corn. High carb, but all fresh & really delicious.
I will miss Kenyan food.
We were supposed to go back to the platform they had erected at the local soccer field to hold the open air crusade, but since we'd finished late and had just eaten lunch at 4 - we were told to prepare instead to share in the evening at church. We were to present everything we had - so we lead worship - with acoutstic guitars - presented 2 or 3 dances the team had prepared & then shared a message with the congregation trying to get them fired up about missions! We really had felt that that was part of our pupose in coming - that God wanted to raise up Kenya to be a sending nation - both to Africa and beyond!!!
It was a wonderful night. The highlight was probably the Swahili dance the team had prepared. We got about 2 minutes into in then like 10 people from the church came up on stage with the team to dance it. It was a wonderful night of worship with the church & God was exalted!
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