The Red Deer Task Force Team and Gateway School are in the news again. Daniel Kooman was interviewed on the team’s return by Heather Schultz of the Advocate. Check out the article below:
Local Group Reaches out to African Orphans
Today was another emotional day. Today we went to the refugee camp that you see in Africa: Sing Me Your Song. We were welcomed and signed a guest book. Then we thought we would meet a few of the
orphans from the camp / settlement and hear their stories … instead we entered their church to face a group of over 1000 orphans and caregivers sitting quietly, waiting for us! It was amazing! They sang a song for us and welcomed us. We also sang to them and Daniel said a few words and Elias explained why we were there. Part of our intent was to begin to help in establishing a system of gathering information to catelog or organize for orphans to be able to be sponsored through Save Africa Now. This is a laborious job that
could be a full-time position for someone since there are almost 1000 orphans just there alone! We worked with Elias as a translator and were able to hear the stories of only 15 children, while Jeremiah
(another member of the church) did the same thing at another station.
It was heart-breaking … they lined up by the 100s, hoping to be able to find support for the children. Widows lined up and had to be turned away, since their children were not truly “orphans”. Some
children had lost their parents only 2 months ago. Others had lost their parents soon after birth. Many have died from disease, but most from HIV /AIDS. The children look into your hearts with sad eyes … they are beautiful! It was so hard to know that so few (at this time) could be helped …. There are so many more that need to be placed into the system and sponsored!
The people fed us a beautiful lunch meal and we felt like royalty! Totally spoiled! Then the good news was that after we left the church, we went and saw Esther (from the movie) … she looks healthy and well, and Richard … he is chubby and adorable, and the rest of their family. It was uplifting to see them and to know that Esther is still doing well.
We are emotionally exhausted tonight. But we are so blessed to be here. These people are so wonderful … and so grateful that we are here. And although we know we are doing such a little bit right now,
we are hoping and praying that this is only the beginning for being able to bring help and relief to these people!
We love and miss you all, and so wish that you could see and experience what we are seeing and taking in! – It is beautiful here … and has been life-changing for us!
Mungu Atubariki – God Bless You
(Nathan and Geannette)
I cannot begin to tell you what a privilege it was to worship on Sunday morning with the Free Pentecostal Church of Tabora … We arrived according to “African time” and they were already well under
way singing. Their worship is so beautiful … completely uninhibited … they are full of energy and joy in heir worship.
They dance, they sing, they harmonize in ways that bring you to tears. They include all ages within their church and have choirs of varying ages that sing and dance (with choreography) and lead the congregation in worship. They were so welcoming to us and made us feel a part of their congregation. Stu preached and Daniel shared, and our group sang a few songs for them as well. Stu also presented them with the gift of a guitar for their congregation that Parkland Audio had helped to provide. They were very grateful. It was quite
a moving experience to worship, sing and yes, even dance, with their congregation!
Monday we worked on the house in the morning. Mixing concrete was started …. it is amazing. Everything is done by hand … it is gruelling work! We carried (in a chain / line) 84 buckets of aggregate (rocks) and later 50 more, all to be mixed in the concrete. This was used for the flooring of one of the bedrooms in the house.
It is all poured, one bucket at a time, and smoothed with a hand trowel in the rooms. Quite a job!
In the afternoon we had the “party” hat we had planned for the orphans. These were children who were invited by the church that are orphans and are being taken care of by various guardians or relatives. We had a compound location for the party, and expected approximately 75 – 80 children to attend the party. We were prepared with small gifts to give to the children and drinks and snacks. We had planned various games to play with them and were excited about the party ….. We were NOT prepared for over 200 children to come,
along with their caregivers! We were overwhelmed! We played with them and the games were a riot! They enjoyed frisbees, bubbles, skipping ropes, playing soccer, and playing with balls and beanbags
on a parachute! The kids were enthusiastic and excited and they immediately captured all of our hearts! We laughed and hugged and held hands with them and as we played with them our hearts ached that
they were ALL orphans and they ALL need sponsors!
When it came time to have drinks and snacks and give out the “gifts”, we were in a panic … there were not nearly enough. We quickly redistributed the items that were in the gift bags and went out to purchase more drinks and snacks. Still, we did not have enough. We worked hard and prayed hard, and by the end of handing out the little trinkets and items, there was nothing left! It was an unbelievable
experience …. such beautiful children …. and yet, such heartache, and an ocean full of need! They took our hearts with us when they left!
Where ever we go, if we take a picture of children and then show them themselves in the camera, they laugh and shout and clap! They get really silly and want you to do it again and again! We have even found it to be true with the adults! We have had great fun with the cameras!
(Nathan and Geannette)