First Days of Kids Club!

Today we all had the privilege to meet and hang out with the kids that we will be hanging out with all week. We have been split into two groups for the two different sites: Capricorn and Overcome. Last night, we got together in our groups to prepare for the skit we would be doing for the Bible story and the games we would play. So although we were a little tired heading into today, we were also excited to finally start our mission work.

My group went first to Capricorn. Capricorn is a community center run by Living Hope that has a basketball court type area to play rec games, and a relatively nice inside area with offices and a big open space to worship, eat, etc. Meagan is the head Living Hope counselor there, and she is awesome. She pours a ton of energy into her job and can relate better than any of us to all the kids. After Deanna led us in a devotion before the kids came, the day began.

There was an onslaught of kids in the first hour, which was pretty much designated as a time for them to get energy out outside. They were climbing all over us, playing a "catch your nose" game where they tried to grab our noses (ouch), and playing with all sorts of hula hoops and basketballs. It was a great way to start the day because we didn't have to control the kids or anything; just straight crazy fun and games. After that, we led a skit about Jesus healing the blind man, Garner did a great job leading worship, and we just got to know the kids.

The other group spent the morning doing similar things at Overcome, the other site. Alex DeVilliers gave a wonderful testimony and Hannah Patterson gave the lesson. We all met up for lunch at the beach and went and got coffee at a small shop, where we were reprimanded multiple times for being in the way of everyone. Being in people's way in public places is becoming a theme of the trip. 24 people will inevitably do that.

My group's afternoon was at Overcome. Overcome is in a worse part of town and is just a small shipping container with a small dirt space outside for playing games. It is surrounded with the slums that are sadly all over Capetown. Despite the conditions, the kids are joyful. It was less structures; we just played with them and let them feel our hair (props to Anne Pell for enduring a long "braiding" session from several girls) and climb all over us. Best part of the afternoon: when one of the kids, about age eight, lip-synched an Adele song in dramatic fashion with serious hand motions. Great fun.

Other highlights of the day:
--the kids at both places seem to think that we are celebrities. Jennifer Terch=Jennifer Lopez, Alec is a "movie star", they call me (Will Hightower) Justin Beiber.
--Several of us jumped in the ocean today. It was horrendously cold.
--The group at Overcome this morning helped someone push their car from their house after it broke down in the road today.
--There's constant talk about when the best time is to shower. The showers quickly lose hot water, and therefore everyone is trying to find the best time to take a hot shower. No one has found a sure solution yet...

It really has been an incredibly fun and funny trip. My sides hurt from laughing so much, especially at our group's attempt at rehearsing our skit for tomorrow. Garner playing the role of Pilate is hilarious. And Capetown is the most beautiful place I've ever seen, especially the coastline.

I've been asked to clarify that David Foster bought the Zulu spear, not Garner.

Also, we weren't allowed to take pictures today so we don't have any for tonight's blog.

--Will Hightower