Day One...Discovering Bridges

Todays blog is written by Matt and Meredith...

The day started with everyone waking up from a 12 hour nap (haha jet lag is a real thing). We started with a team breakfast and a devotional by Kathleen to help us prepare spiritually and mentally for the day. The morning was spent preparing for the onslaught of kids we would be working with tomorrow; there was  a tragic death in the Bridges family (the Academy we are staying  at) so the Wadley's (Bridges Founders) decided to bring the OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) kids to the retreat center for camp.  We made beds, cleaned floors and swept bathrooms it was a blast! Following that we headed off to the Academy and spent lunch with the kids getting to know them. Kathleen got her hair braided and it looked fabulous!

We had four after school activities planned for the kids; Dodgeball with Matt, Scavenger Hunt with Molly, Spiritual Discipline with Danielle and Ice Breakers with Kira. We ate dinner with the kids tonight and we all split up amongst them kids in order to get to know them better, but the real fun began after putting the dishes away... A chair against a wall became a goal and the kids ran around wanting to take the winning shot. Other groups played the cups song (lead by Meredith), Allie was shown the girls dorms, Paul did magic tricks with a group while others, like Ray, sang songs with the kids.   Overall,  it was a great time.

After the kids study hour our team was in charge of leading a nightly devotional. Since the last teams trip it has become a tradition to share more testimonies with the kids. Ray opened us in worship and with encouragement from Jared, three girls from the academy came up to sing by Rays side. During our second song of worship the kids and everyone really started to get into worship while we all sang "Blessed be Your Name".  Singing clapping and chanting echoed throughout the room, God's spirit was certainly with us tonight!  Lizzie was the first person from our team to share her story with the academy, our theme for our devotionals this trip is "God is my (blank)". After her testimony we split into groups and Matt had this to say about his small group...

"At some point we asked the group if they felt special and targeted by God to have the opportunity to have been placed in Bridges.. But one of the kids "Siya" immediately spoke up and said he 'felt so loved that God put him in a place with so much love and opportunity.. And for him to see the hardships his friends go through, when he goes backs and visits the townships'. I was taken back by his vulnerability in the moment and his maturity in recognizing how blessed he is".

At the end of the evening the room was filled with shouting and hugging as our team and the academy students wished each other good night. (and this was a slow day).   We are so excited for all that God is doing here and ready for more tomorrow!

Stay tuned for the next post from all of us here in South Africa!