Team USA

The first team for 2010 arrived on Saturday night. They come from Celebration Lutheran Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Of the 8 team members, 3 have been here before and worked on the community center & creche (daycare) in the early stages, the other 5 are first-timers. It was great to hear the thoughts from the 3 that were back for a second time. Virginia commented that the kitchen gave them a bit of trouble and that they worked hard in certain corners in the center. As a ritual, Virginia asked Bill to do the first roller of paint on the interior of the creche.

The team attended church in Ntshongweni on Sunday and was able to see 3 ladies being confirmed, 3 children being baptized and a new member added to the family in Ntshongweni. The team presented a beautiful chalice to the congregation of the Ntshongweni Lutheran Church. The team leader Bill Magill read a message in Zulu on behalf of their congregation. I along with the congregation was very impressed. After the service there was wonderful fellowship. It is so amazing to see brothers and sisters in Christ loving each other as Christ asked us to.

Day 1.....There was painting to be done, a playground to construct, mini creche in the morning and VBS/After-school session in the afternoon. Whew! Sounds like a full day and indeed it was. The ladies took on the task of painting the interior of the creche while the men started laying the foundation for the playground. I had the task of playing with the younger children. They are such a joy. For part of the after-school session we are highlighting different countries since the World Cup is only 17 days away. Today we talked about Mexico. Since South Africa plays Mexico in the first game, it was a great introduction. We had passports for the children where they can put flags from the different countries and write fun facts. For the craft we made maracas from paper plates and macaroni. They really enjoyed that. Afterwards they flocked to the soccer field. The kids are very happy to have a safe place to play and it definitely showed.

Overall I give day 1 two thumbs up. The team worked hard and got to spend some quality time with the children. I feel safe in saying they will be good friends with many of the kids by the end of the week. Team Jacksonville.... YOU ROCK!!!!! Thank you for the awesome job today. Looking forward to tomorrow.