Miracle Story

There are certain blessings that come when you are in a third world country. Life is a little slower. Good conversation under a shaded tree is more valued that a checked “to do” list. People generally walk slower with frequent stops to greet others instead of going from point A to point B in the most time efficient manner. However, there are some challenges that go along with third world countries… Life is a little slower. The “to do” list is not as valued as the shaded tree and the results are told in the unchecked boxes. With little surprise, point B is rarely ever reached. In fact, point C or D seemed to be the best place to stop and point B is altogether out of the picture. Third world countries have great blessings and great challenges in the eye of a Westerner.

Just a few months ago, Kids Across Africa experiences some of those blessings/challenges during our camp. Despite the difficulties of cultural pressures and variances, it was not difficult to see God at work. Could we share with you what we saw to be a miracle during the 2009 Kids Across Africa Summer Camp?

One of the challenges we face each year in holding a sports camp in East Africa for 150 kids is the problem of electricity. Have you ever planned a birthday party or even gone out to eat and questioned the fact that it might not happen because the electricity might cut out? I didn’t think so. We didn’t either until we started thinking a little more like the people of Africa. Electricity seems to come and go like the wind. It comes on when it wishes and leaves when it feels fit to. It is not bound by a simple switch on a wall.

Each night (which would necessitate electricity) we held our K-Life services for the kids. They consist of fun games, skits, testimonies, worship, and a speaker. However, the third night of K-Life in summer ’09 will be remembered forever. We were singing together and preparing for the gospel skit when all of a sudden, we got the news…

THE WHOLE DISTRICT OF MUSANZE HAD LOST ELECTRICITY!

What? We peeked outside the camps walls to see the whole city in darkness. There were no lights anywhere, yet to our amazement, we could still see each other. We looked around and noticed the obvious fact that we still had electricity! It was a true miracle! Our camp location was on the same power lines as the local shops, businesses, and restaurants, yet all of them were in a blackout. God was doing a great work and had a great plan.

We stopped K-Life for a moment and announced the current news. There was a rumbling in the kids and the general message that came forth was, “God is doing something amongst us that he does not want to stop!” The kids were so excited to hear the gospel preached that night knowing that God was “keeping the lights on” for us. While the whole of Musanze was dark, we worshipped the Lord in the light. It was a miracle.

Please pray in the same manner for those kids who received Christ at the camp, that they may be a “light in the darkness” and a “city on a hill” for country of Rwanda. God is doing a great work.

The Story of Kevis

Have you ever met someone that has changed your life within 15 minutes? We’d like you to meet one of our good friends! His name is Kevis and he went to our camp this summer. As soon as he first entered in through the big iron doors of the entrance, we knew he was something else…someone who would teach us much more that we could ever teach him.

Here are some quick facts about Kevis:

Age: 16
School: Sonrise Christian School
Hometown: Musanze, Rwanda
Goals: He would like to be a doctor one day.

Kevis is an exceptional soccer player and a humble leader amongst his peers. It was clear that all the kids in the camp respected and looked up to him. With profound English skills, Kevis expressed to the various American coaches of his desire to come to America in order to study at the university level. (In Rwanda, the educational system only allows the best of the best to enter college. Very few receive their bachelor’s degree after high school.) Kevis has vision for his tomorrow.

Much like Kanakuk and Kids Across America, each night of the camp had a “K-Life” which consisted of worship music, skits, games, testimonies, and a speaker. In the Rwandan language, we call it “K-Ubuzima”! Kevis was chosen to share his testimony for the last night of camp. He story paraphrased is below…

The story of God’s redeeming work in my life is no different than yours. He died on the cross for my sins, despite my rebellion towards him. He died in my place for my sins and paid a penalty that I could not pay. This love propels me to love others.
This truth was put to the test for me 2 years ago when my Uncle murdered my Father with a hammer. They had an argument over finances and he hit my Father on the head 6 times. This killed my Father instantly. My Uncle was thrown in jail and my life was changed forever.
6 months ago, I knew I needed to seek forgiveness. This was my calling as a Christian. I went to see my Uncle in jail and told him, “How can I not forgive you? After all, Christ forgave me.” Although this was hard, the hallmark of Christianity is reconciliation. We must forgive.

As you know, the people of Rwanda are displaying the greatest picture of reconciliation to the whole world. The residual effects from the Genocide are almost overwhelming, yet the people continue to forgive. This is not an easy task, but people like Kevis are an example for the country and to us all.

30 DAY PRAYER CHALLENGE

The Kids Across Africa Family would like to challenge you to pray for 30 days with people from all around the world for the Muslim World. As you may know, East Africa if densly populated with Muslim and in some areas occupy up to 98% of the people! During the month of Ramadan (August 22 to September 20) we be praying for the Muslim Peoples with a special emphasis in East Africa. Many of our campers this year came form Muslim homes and were considered followers of the Islamic Faith.
Will you pray for them with us?
Click HERE to learn more and join millions of Christians all around the world who have participated in this largest ongoing international prayer focus for the Muslim world. (This would be a great page to set as "homepage" for the next 30 days) Here is a portion included from the website:

"Imagine a prayer meeting with just a few people. Imagine the same prayer meeting with millions. That's us!
The origin of this international prayer network came about as a group of Christian leaders were praying during a meeting in the Middle East in April 1992. God put a burden on the hearts of these men and women to call as many Christians as possible to pray for the Muslim world."

We'd love to hear what the Lord does in your life this month via commenting on our BLOG or sharing on FACEBOOK!

This week in Pictures...so far.

We only have space for 150. The first day of camp has officially come and gone with record numbers showing up to attempt to get into soccer camp. At one point, the estimate was 400+ lined up outside the front gate. After a couple hours of administrative work we had narrowed the numbers down to only the kids who were invited.

It was a tough day for everyone here. As we were so focused on everything that went wrong, such as 400 kids instead of 150, losing the field we had reserved for 2 months, schedules completely changing and just general tiredness, we forgot to see that God was ultimately still in control. I think it is fair to celebrate the evening that we had. K-life was an incredible success with 2 hilarious skits, a great message and in a single prayer nearly 30 kids prayed to receive Christ. That is a victory that is worth every struggle we faced today.

Day 2 will hold our first soccer matches and full day of camp. Please pray that God will make himself known to these kids in a very real way and that we, as a team, will have a renewed strength to bring the love of Christ every day. Logistically, we have lost the main field that we were supposed to play on in town due to political reasons that have to do with Christ. It is a major blow to our morale, but we know that Christ is in control.

Mowing the Field

How many people does it take to air up half a hundred soccer balls…with one pump?
Our weekend started out incredibly well here in Rwanda. We began Friday morning with an epic soccer scrimmage against the hotel staff. It was epic because, well, we didn’t get a beat down like the previous pick up game. We showed up to play and we actually held our own. We ended the day by meeting nearly 40 Rwandans who will serve this week as our coaches/counselors for the kids. We were able to swap stories, smiles and friendships and walked away from the day deeply encouraged.
It was a team-mowing job that we woke up to Saturday morning. The fields that we will be playing on this week were in need of a good trim job. Lucky for us that John Deere and friends haven’t quite made themselves known in Rwanda just yet, so we, armed with machetes, slashers and shovels, became our own, Rwandan version of our green American muscle. We were able to trim nearly and entire soccer field with our own hands in just under 2 hours….Who needs a riding lawn mower anyway?
The next couple days will be a busy time for us as we prep final arrangements and details for kids to come on Monday! The kids are coming…the kids are coming!

2 Wheels instead of 4.

Camp hasn’t even begun and we are already exhausted and sore. We have two physically demanding ticks on our belt so far in Rwanda. A pick up game of soccer and a very lengthy bicycle ride out to the KAA-Rwanda land. Since nobody can quite calculate the distance that we pedaled today, 35 miles, uphill both ways, sounds like an impressive number to throw out. Even if it wasn’t 35 miles, we can flatter ourselves with that number….at 6000 feet. (that’s 1800 meters for those on the metric system.)
We were able to meet up with a group working out of this area called Project Rwanda. Project Rwanda is revolutionizing the coffee transportation industry by supplying bicycles that have the capacity to transport more goods at one time. They are truly pioneers in their industry. They let us join them today for a group ride up to view the KAA land on Lake Burera. It is beautiful.