Each of our students is required to spend an entire year doing an internship. It is designed to allow them to be involved in many aspects of ministry.
One of my students by the name of Matthias is a local pastor. He is spending his internship in his own community, which is not far from the college. In addition to assisting in a local church, he came up with the idea of organizing a local sports day to help keep the youth in his area busy with constructive activities.
Our college helps by sending men to cut the grass on the sports fields. We employed some local youth to build a hauswin for us on campus. (A hauswin is a shelter used for cooking and talking that is naturally air conditioned.) The youth used the money to buy trophies for the winning teams.
Last Sunday I had the opportunity to see his ministry in action.
It was amazing to see literally hundreds of people watching volleyball, basketball, and touch rugby games. A number of the village elders came to tell me how pleased they were that their youth had something good to do instead of getting into trouble. After the churches get out, the entire community gathers for an afternoon of fun and fellowship. Community pride was evident everywhere. The teams wore uniforms. The spectators cheered. Women sold food. Children played.
The Lord is doing mighty things in this community. I hope to share more in future posts. In the meantime, please enjoy these photos.
This shot is of the grandstand. The ladies in the back along the fence are selling different food items. As you can see kids were everywhere.
These women are enjoying a game of volleyball. Men played volleyball in a court next to theirs.
These women played a spirited game of basketball.
Two teams engage in some rugged rugby action.
This is Matthias' team. They are the "Midwests." Matthias is in the back row and second from the left.
After the team photo everyone else wanted to have their picture taken.
Isn't God grand! His joy is indeed our strength.
No comments:
Post a Comment