After three days living in Maubane I have already labeled this week as a week of madness. I have had stinky sore feet, sandy shoes, bad mornings and teary goodbyes, but if I were asked if I would do it again, I would say “yes” at the drop of a hat.
I was in charge of the games that the children played and was paired with Lauren to create a series of games to keep the children busy and in some way make them loose some of the crazy energy that they developed when they saw us. The two leaders that were shadowing us for the first two days and were going to take over by Wednesday were Eugene and Titus. By Monday I could already see that the hand over from being in charge to putting them in charge was going to be easy. They knew exactly how to handle the kids, calm them down and explain to them what they should do. After the first morning of holiday club had ended I helped Amber with the side line ministry, painting kids’ faces and frequently asked to paint Captain America by the kids, it was CRAZY!!! But I got the opportunity to bond with some of the children a bit more, especially the boys.
Day two was a bit crazier with less kids. I had created a set of games based on having four people controlling each station but Eugene was not able to make it and Titus was helping with the bible study up on stage so it was Lauren and I trying to handle hyper kids and trying to explain what they should do in the games but not being able to speak Tswana didn’t really help the situation at all. So I had to adjust the games to make it as easy to explain as possible but luckily I had Becca and Aunty Tiny to help me adjust the games and ease the pressure. That night I sat with the unpleasant thought of how I am going to pass the responsibility of being in control over to Eugene when he wasn’t even there
Day three came along where I had to keep quiet and allow Titus and Eugene to make the decision and be in charge. Yet all I can say about day three is it was AMAZING. They took complete control of the kids and made games that were easy to explain based on the guidelines I gave them. All the kids were included and had so much fun.
The time came where I had to say goodbye and that has always been the hardest thing for me. I wish I knew what to say with regards to that but I don’t. It was so hard because I had created a lot of friendships but at the same time I found family. The worst thing for me was seeing my brother Eugene cry and when I asked why he was crying he told me it was because we were leaving….. that is when it hit me that this is goodbye, I might never see some of these people that I grew very close to again, and it broke me. Luckily I had my sunglasses to hide the tears I was shedding. The second thing that broke me was a two-year- old boy I played with throughout these three days came to ask me for water, and after I gave him some he kissed my hand and said goodbye……
In all of this happening I felt God point out a few things like how it speaks in the Bible that there is a season for everything in our lives, a time to say hello and a time to say goodbye. But, most of all there is a time to grow and in order for Maubane’s holiday club ministry to grow, the way God wants it to grow, we as the Abbas Pride interns need to say goodbye so they can learn to lead and in leading they can grow as individuals and as a community.
One of the most important things I’ve learnt in the past few days is that in this type of ministry you have to know how to be flexible and sometimes just going with the flow of things is okay because not everything you plan to happen will happen so you need to know how to improvise and be willing to work as a team. Have games that you know the kids within the community know how to play because that is what they comfortable with and when kids are comfortable they have fun.
Peace out.
I was in charge of the games that the children played and was paired with Lauren to create a series of games to keep the children busy and in some way make them loose some of the crazy energy that they developed when they saw us. The two leaders that were shadowing us for the first two days and were going to take over by Wednesday were Eugene and Titus. By Monday I could already see that the hand over from being in charge to putting them in charge was going to be easy. They knew exactly how to handle the kids, calm them down and explain to them what they should do. After the first morning of holiday club had ended I helped Amber with the side line ministry, painting kids’ faces and frequently asked to paint Captain America by the kids, it was CRAZY!!! But I got the opportunity to bond with some of the children a bit more, especially the boys.
Day two was a bit crazier with less kids. I had created a set of games based on having four people controlling each station but Eugene was not able to make it and Titus was helping with the bible study up on stage so it was Lauren and I trying to handle hyper kids and trying to explain what they should do in the games but not being able to speak Tswana didn’t really help the situation at all. So I had to adjust the games to make it as easy to explain as possible but luckily I had Becca and Aunty Tiny to help me adjust the games and ease the pressure. That night I sat with the unpleasant thought of how I am going to pass the responsibility of being in control over to Eugene when he wasn’t even there
Day three came along where I had to keep quiet and allow Titus and Eugene to make the decision and be in charge. Yet all I can say about day three is it was AMAZING. They took complete control of the kids and made games that were easy to explain based on the guidelines I gave them. All the kids were included and had so much fun.
The time came where I had to say goodbye and that has always been the hardest thing for me. I wish I knew what to say with regards to that but I don’t. It was so hard because I had created a lot of friendships but at the same time I found family. The worst thing for me was seeing my brother Eugene cry and when I asked why he was crying he told me it was because we were leaving….. that is when it hit me that this is goodbye, I might never see some of these people that I grew very close to again, and it broke me. Luckily I had my sunglasses to hide the tears I was shedding. The second thing that broke me was a two-year- old boy I played with throughout these three days came to ask me for water, and after I gave him some he kissed my hand and said goodbye……
In all of this happening I felt God point out a few things like how it speaks in the Bible that there is a season for everything in our lives, a time to say hello and a time to say goodbye. But, most of all there is a time to grow and in order for Maubane’s holiday club ministry to grow, the way God wants it to grow, we as the Abbas Pride interns need to say goodbye so they can learn to lead and in leading they can grow as individuals and as a community.
One of the most important things I’ve learnt in the past few days is that in this type of ministry you have to know how to be flexible and sometimes just going with the flow of things is okay because not everything you plan to happen will happen so you need to know how to improvise and be willing to work as a team. Have games that you know the kids within the community know how to play because that is what they comfortable with and when kids are comfortable they have fun.
Peace out.