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The final farewell


Today was our final day of mission work but was arguably the best day of the trip. The day started with an early breakfast with some very tired looking faces but these faces soon woke up when we reached Matero. The children's clock's had obviously been adjusted from Zambian time to our time as we were greeted as we drove in by 40 or 50 excitable children. The adrenaline kicked in very quickly as we started the programme off with another crazy game of football and some singing and dancing inside. We moved on next to a couple of songs which got a great reaction and it was really encouraging to hear the children learning the words to the song, despite the language barrier. The drama team were up next and with a bit of improv brought a touch of humour to the morning. 

The first session today focused on the story of Jesus' crucification and how He acted as a 'substitute' for us. After some very worthwhile conversations in group time we went outside for some games which were not quite as manic as yesterday but still seemed to be enjoyed by all. The main game today was an adaptation of the B.B classic of Head and Catch (or HeadBallCatch at holiday bible club) which was 'Mote' and 'Mange'. The craft today was a colourful bracelet with each colour representing a part of the Gospel message which everyone appreciated.


A tasty lunch followed and then we jumped into our final session of the programme. Originally we had races planned but these were replaced by just general messing around with the kids along with football and netball, and they loved it! It was so encouraging to see the smiles from our team being reflected from the young kids.


We went back inside for a three part drama special which the children really enjoyed. Next was the emotional part of the day which was the handing out of presents. Every child was given a bag with a few gifts including a pencil case, a ball, a toothbrush and pants - simple things for us but things that many of the children simply do not have and will cherish. We also gave all leaders from Matero a small gift too. Just as we thought the handing out of presents was finished we were shocked and humbled as boys and girls from our team were both called up to be given a gift from our hosts. The girls were given a chitenge and boys a commerative badge. Then they gave us a beautiful clock and a huge chitenge to bring back to our church. 


Some emotional farewells later and we were on the road again having finished our mission work and hopefully having left a huge impact on the children and spread some joy to the local community. 


After one of our tastiest dinner's out we were back to the hostel for Mark's devotion, where we focused on what's next for the team, and how this shouldn't be a ‘one and done’ but more of a starting block to bring our enthusiasm back home.


A curfew was put in place tonight as we've an early start tomorrow so I'm going to leave this here.

(Michael)

PS no further tally to group nosebleeds






















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