This morning we woke with heavy hearts knowing that it would be our last day with our soccer children. We began our morning with worship and devotions and after we welcomed the kids for the last day with games galore. Once everyone was here, we went inside the hall to hear testimonies from Chris and EJ. Chris talked about growing up and how his life has changed since he has found God. EJ shared her favorite verse from the Bible which was 1 Peter 5:10 and explained that God has the power to heal even when you go through hard times. He will give you chance at new life.
Once the testimonies were finished, we broke into small groups to go play new games with the kids. Today, we had clothespin tag, classic volleyball, track and field, and ultimate Frisbee once again. They showed improvement to the old games and quickly picked up on the new ones. Looking around, there was nothing but pure happiness and love throughout the morning. After hours of playing both new and old sports, we gathered back into the hall to hear from Caroline and Coach V about the word of God. They both talked about perseverance and how important it is in life and sports to pursue God. They read scripture from Romans 5: 1-5 to help explain their message.
Later in the afternoon, we broke into small groups to teach the children about hygiene, strength training, how to warm up, and leadership. Kyle, Maya, and Jenna led the hygiene group where they reminded the kids of basic hygiene and how to keep their bodies healthy. Alli, Sara, and Tena were in the leadership group where they talked to the kids about who they look up to and why and talked about how they should look up to Jesus because He is our leader. Jager, Eddie, and Britta were in the strength and conditioning group where they did a lot of plyometric exercises and fun games to stress the importance of exercise. Haley, EJ, and Brian led dynamic warm ups where they different types of dynamic stretches to show the importance of stretching before playing sports. All the kids seemed to enjoy the small groups today, learned a lot, and asked great questions.
We went back into the hall to sing Father Abraham in front of everyone before we were released for lunch and team pictures. As some teams went out for pictures, others stayed in for a quick dance party with live African drums. For lunch, we had a classic PB&J sandwich and had fellowship over the meal with the little ones. The games continued after lunch for about an hour before everyone gathered into the hall for one last time. The whole staff and kids said thank you with loud cheering and whistling which made our team feel so welcomed and loved. Abby mentioned that we will always have a family here in Choma and we are welcome back anytime. We thanked the kids for being so awesome this week with handmade bracelets, Hope stickers, and candy!! We also got into groups of 4 with some of the kids and prayed for whatever was heavy on their hearts.
Once the commotion died down, some of us got ready to go into the community for home visits and some stayed in their athletic wear for community kids to come to the base for Kids Club. We went into Armor’s kids family homes where we asked questions to learn more about their culture and every day life. We also talked about the word of God and gave them any advice we could offer. We ended each home visit in prayer with everyone hand-in-hand. When we arrived back to the base, there were several community children there for Kids Club. We ended our night by playing games with them and said our heartbreaking goodbyes with so much love and several hugs all around.
For dinner we had nchima!!! We were all excited and we thank Mama B, Mama D, and Mumba for cooking our favorite Zambian meal on our last day. To top the night off we all gathered to thank the staff here at EMIZ and Poetice for their wonderful hospitality and welcoming us into the family. We gave them their very own SEED shirt as a way to always remember us. Last thing on the agenda for the night was debrief. We all shared our God moments for the day, which everyone looks forward to every night. We all felt overwhelmed with gratitude for the week that we had together and the experiences we’ve encountered. We joined together, hand-in-hand with an emotional prayer for anyone to jump in when they felt the need to. Overall, it was a beautiful last day to spend in Choma. We want to thank everyone who has made this trip possible and we all look forward to see what God has planned for us when we go back to the States!
Blessings,
Kyle and Maya