Summer 2006 Vacation Bible School Update

A team of 14 people from CC La Habra recently returned from Rwanda where we were able to host a Vacation Bible School for over 1,000 children, including most of the Abana Bumwami Children we have been sponsoring.

Beginning in late July through early August, the teams hosted two VBS’ - one at Pastor Francis’ church in Kigali and the other in the rugged hills of Ruhengeri, two hours north of Kigali. Pastor Francis had distributed flyers through his community inviting children from the ages of 5 to 12 to the VBS at his church, and was anticipating approximately 400 children. On the starting day of VBS the team arrived at the church at 7:30 in the morning to prepare for the 9:30 event, only to find over a hundred children already gathering at the church doors anticipating the days events. By the time a hot lunch was served at 12:30 almost 800 children had come through the doors.

With crafts and food prepared for 400 people, a mad scramble was on to multiply the resources we had. At the end of the day every child left with their craft in hand, and a full stomach. What an exciting day it was. Hundreds of kids sang worship songs, made crafts, played games and learned about God’s love and plan for us as taught through the Ten Commandments.

Helping out the team from La Habra were many people from Francis’ church who helped with translation, leading worship and serving the kids. In addition to them were six young men sent down to serve from Calvary Chapel Kampala. These men were a Godsend as their visionary service to the children and the rest of the team lightened the load for all. Included in this team from Kampala were John Kalule and David Kimuli, the two students CCLH has been supporting through Bible College. What a joy it was to see them exemplify God’s love to the children.

The second VBS, held in Ruhengeri and hosted by a church planted by Pastor Francis several years ago, ran smooth as the lessons we learned from our first experience were put into place. The first morning a group of 50 children walked single file into the soccer stadium where we were hosting the VBS about a half hour after we had started. While singing with the children we noticed that the new arrivals seemed lethargic compared to the other active and energetic kids singing and dancing. We later learned that these children had been walking since 2 a.m. from their village to get to the VBS. It was humbling to see the sacrifice these kids made to be there. They spent the next two nights sleeping on the floor of the church, and had a wonderful time playing, eating, singing and learning about God.

At both of these events many children accepted the Lord, and the group from CCLH had a wonderful experience spending time with the kids. In addition to the VBS, Jamie Davidson, who was making her second trip to Rwanda, provided basic dental needs for the ABC kids through teeth cleanings and extraction of rotten teeth. We hope to continue to develop this ministry and offer expanded dental services for the kids in the future.