Some "moments" from our time together:
"I raised my hands during worship for the first time this week"
Some kids prayed out loud for the first time
"I have seen God through the other students I have met"
"It breaks my heart to know that children cannot get an education. I want to become a teacher and go to Liberia towork at Rick's Institute"
One child when asked "what are you taking home with you?"
answered: "I saw God through the kids..that they were so happy and accepting of me. What I will take home with me is that camp can change your life."
Worship in the evening has been very participatory and multi-sensory. Last night, we were learning that there are many reasons why children around the world do not get an educations. One of the reasons is that they help supply the family income. Our camp pastor, James, is from Liberia. In his homeland, poor children sit on the side of the road breaking large rocks into small stones to sell to local contractors who use them in construction. From sun up to sun down, these children (as young as 5 or 6 years old) hammer and hammer and hammer in hopes that they can sell their rubble to put a meal on their table. To illustrate this injustice, we were guided to tables that were set up around the auditorium that were covered with large stones and hammers. We were asked to silently and prayerfully make our way to the table and to hammer a rock until we had broken off a piece. We were asked to keep that piece of stone as a reminder of the children who spent their entire day being robbed of a childhood and an education. We were told to “let the rocks cry out” the injustice in it all and to be thankful for our own educations. The sound of beating stones around the room was deafening. I fell asleep with the echoes of hammer meeting stone resonating in my head. I will not forget it.
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