Day 3

Well...when we last left you, we were just getting ready to eat lunch and begin our launch of the Kids and Sports Camps. After eating a great lunch and getting some rest, a group of us went down to see a traditional Samoan game of Cricket. We were drawn to this game when we heard the sound of the students singing outside our window, and as we looked out we could see tons of Samoan guys preparing to play and holding banners---It was awesome!

This is another example of community that we see over and over again on this campus. A few of us sat and watched the game, and even engaged in some traditional singing. Finally, after about 15 minutes, I just had to go over and ask about the rules of the game. They invited me to take a shot at batting (It's a lot different than anything I've ever done)! On the first pitch I hit a point for our team---I think everyone was surprised at this... the next pitch I was out---that was humbling.

I want Josh to share now about his experience with the Kids Camp, as I was mainly with the Sports Camp.

(JOSH)...I felt right at home, like my family had just increased 100% as I was sharing with tons of kids who were around the ages of my own children. We had a great time teaching the story of Daniel in the Lion's den. Jason, Tony, Drew, Molly, Chelsea, Ginny, Julia and Bethany did an amazing job. We could see the kids' faces light up as we taught them this simple bible story in creative ways. Our prayers and hopes are that these kids will be impacted for life. We were also impressed by the help of the students and their wives.

The sports camp consisted of myself (Rob), Greg, Katie, Tiffany and Josh Borkin. We broke the teenagers up into 4 teams and played soccer for the first hour (yes even Greg Green played along with Josh B, who managed to stay off the ground for most of the time). We then had a Gatorade break, and Katie shared her story with the entire group. She talked about the busyness of her schedule and the challenge of making time for Jesus Christ. I was proud of Katie, as this really was a stretch for her, but she pulled it off and did great! I'm proud of our entire team, who are all doing a great job of getting out of their comfort zones and working with the team. We then went out for another hour of soccer and closed off with a time of prayer.

I think we were all ready for a spa treatment after this!

But I was so proud of the group, because after the VBS came to a close for the day, everyone resisted the temptation to just go back and rest, and instead decided to continue building relationships through conversations at the beach, playing ball games and just hanging out in general. Then we cleaned up, had meatballs and yellow tail, banana ice cream and cookies for dessert. We met for a debriefing to talk about the things that needed to be improved and the things that went well. The night was closed off by a surprise visit from an Australian couple in charge of teaching a class on practical ministry. This gave us an opportunity to talk and invest some time in them.

This morning we all woke up to the sound of pouring rain, and it was great to experience rain... especially in 80 degree weather. The humidity has been a challenge but everyone has been such good sports. I am so proud of each and every one of them. Breakfast was french toast and pancakes---sooo yummy! I went and spoke with the president for an hour while Josh Borkin opened bible study with "Smells like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana (So spiritual, we are still working on him).

What I can say so far is that this has been an awesome team, and I can truly see how each and every one on the team is being stretched in their faith which is a big part of the purpose of these trips.

We will sign off for now but please continue to pray for the Sports and Kids Camps as we now head off for lunch.

~Rob Denton
Pastor.