Soccer Camp Reflections

The Soccer Camp team arrived home safely in Dayton on Wednesday morning, January 13th. We were greeted at the airport by family, members of the CLC pastoral staff and friends. It was a blessing to see so many smiling and welcoming faces, especially after a 20.5 hours of airline travel!

Ask anyone who participates in a mission experience and they will most likely tell you that, while it's great to be back with loved ones, it's hard to return home. It's amazing how quickly you can develop relationships with and an affinity for a people you have never known before. Each member of this team knew with certainty that God had called them to serve at this specific time and for this specific purpose. We spent 10 full days living in the center of His will. We were not distracted by cell phones, job demands, family issues, television, the internet or any of the other things that can interfere with our daily interactions with God. As a result, we could be focused on discerning what God wanted us to accomplish on any given day and at any given moment. He used us to share His love, His compassion, His mercy and grace, His joy, His forgiveness, His gift of salvation and His gift of hope. When you have the privilege to be used in this way, it's hard to return home. The fear is that you will somehow loose this connection with God. The realization is that God is always there, ready to interact with us; we are the ones who must become disciplined enough to continually seek Him despite our busy lives.
We covet your prayers that each member of the team would not loose site of this as we adjust to being back at home.

As we reflect back on our soccer camp expereince, one of the things we will remember most is the joy we experienced with the kids. We interacted with more than 300 kids over the course of the week. If the statistics are correct, 150 of them are HIV positive; 90 of them come from child-led households; half of the boys who participated in the 18+ bracket of the tournament will not live to age 30. Several of the young girls have, most likely, already been sexually abused. Those figures are staggering and depressing. Yet, that is not what we experienced. What we saw in the campers was joy! There was singing, dancing, praising and worshipping. There was teaching, discussions, words of encouragement, words of gratitude, promises of hope and forgiveness. There were first-time dedications to Christ and rededications. There were hugs, good touches, pats on the back and snuggles. We spent an entire week focusing all our attention on the youth of the Hawane CLC region and they responded by returning day after day and bringing new kids to the camp. For this brief period of time, they had a place where they felt loved; where they were safe; a place that fed them physically and spiritually; a place where they could have fun; a place where people listened to them and valued them; a place where they mattered; a place that literally changed lives - theirs and ours!

We ask that you continue to pray for Hawane CLC and the children and youth it serves. The soccer camp team sowed seeds during our time with them. We now ask that God would equip the church there to water and nurture those seeds so that they may bring forth fruits. May God be glorified!