Kids Small Groups

Tuesday we geared up for a long day of serving and loving on the kids in the Santa Rosa, Laguna neighborhood of south Manila.  We were blessed with the opportunity to return to Learning Links (a private school) to share lessons on being CONFIDENT.  The children of the school were full of joy as Ashley, Noah, and Kaito shared the story of David and Goliath, created crafts together, and presented them with the magical box filled with the most important person in the world—they looked inside and saw their own reflection in the mirror — their reactions were absolutely precious! Aaron, Antonio, Lyndsey, and Paige led the children in worship.  The children had SO MUCH FUN as we danced, sang, and sweated together!  We invited them to join us at Saddleback at the Monochrome this upcoming Saturday for weekend services.  We can’t wait to see those sweet faces again this weekend! :)

Today was a much-needed and anticipated day full of KIDS.  The team was once again divided up into two as they returned to their CGF home churches in the morning or afternoon.  Here is the day's summary by "team:"

Team Busanza - Rosser, Prater-Telles, Marin, Thornton, Kearley & Uhrig Families

• Morning spent with 2 classrooms of 12 and 17 preschoolers from Four Square Church all about Daniel and the Lion's Den (singing, story, game, questions and craft).
• Afternoon returned to Busanza for a final VBS-style time focusing on the principle of serving.  Children walked away with the challenge to serve their neighbors with a simple staple of rice and beans.  And Pastor Gideon of the children's ministry was deeply touched by the team's generosity and love over the last few days.

The team had a great day full of serving opportunities. They are having a blast connecting with SK Manila volunteers and reaching out to the community. They went to a school named learning links which is where they taught leadership skills to the kids. They were teaching 3 different classes and after today was such a hit they now are spending all day their because so many teachers are a fan of what the kids get to learn. God is opening up great big doors for Christ to be shared and for Saddleback Kids to get connected to more people in the community. They also passed out flyers and promoted VBS to several communities so that kids will come in the next couple of days to their VBS camp. Please pray for health as they are very long days and everyone is adjusting still. We also ask God that the team continue to move as God leads and that we they are aware of what He is doing. Thanks for your support and prayers!!!

The focus of today was a cultural immersion experience.  We began with an orientation at the PEACE Plan Offices with sweet Mary.  Lots of great information and questions answered about all things Rwanda.  Then we headed to an anything but Rwandan feeling lunch; Chipotle was basically transplanted here through Meze Fresh.  Yummy!

And then the experiences continued as the team visited a large outdoor market, experiencing the daily bustling life of Rwandans.  Then it was on to the Genocide Memorial to understand the before, during and after of the 1994 genocide.  Hearts were broken as each team member grappled in his/her own way to digest what was seen and heard.  Great debrief time as a team later in the evening.

Finally, we wrapped up the day with two more sessions of Purpose Driven Children's Ministry with another crowd of about 35 church leaders.  Many new faces since we were at a different church at the end of  a work day.  Can't wait for our all-day training to be wrapped up and then applied on Wednesday as it is a national holiday with July 4th's Liberation Day upcoming.

Pray for continued strength, unity and peace amidst and through the team.  God has truly blessed us with a wonderful blend of gifts and talents.  Great things still to come!

Let's just say that these first two days of ministry have been action-packed such that the team was positive we have been in-country for much longer already.  Church in Rwanda is always an extra special experience.  The two teams from Saturday returned to their Kimironko and Busanza churches. Kevin, Jenna and Liza shared a sermon for the 9:00 am adult & children's Sunday School then spent the remaining 2 1/2 hours (yes, they do church long and deep in Rwanda) working with the 150 kiddos in CGFC's children's ministry.  The Busanza team similarly taught Sunday school with a KSG lesson for the children for an hour, gathered all together to worship and then returned for another 2 hours of children's ministry.  The morning was filled with worship, Bible stories, crafts, games and MORE.

After a long, relaxing lunch of Rwandan pizza, the first round of Purpose Driven Children's Ministry conference began.  Doug, Lexi, Sarah, Greg, Deana and Madelyn did an incredible job kicking things off with Session 1: Purpose.  There were 35 children's leaders from 8 different churches in Kigali.  They were challenged, inspired and eager to return for the remainder of the conference over the next few days.

Bottom line, the team is feeling great in spirit, mind and body.  Pray for their hearts as connections are already being formed.  Also, pray for their hearts to grow in compassion and hope with a "cultural" day tomorrow.  Pray for a few upset tummies/headaches that they will go away after a good night's sleep.

We had another very successful day. Our kids are bringing it! At noon we met for team time and logistics for the day.
    Our KSG training started around 1:30 we had about 10 SK Manila leaders which made for a very intimate and relational training . Our kids were beyond amazing The adults were so proud of how brave they were to be leading this training. We ended around 4:00 and spent time fellowships with our fellow SK leaders. They were very appreciative of the training, We saw a lot of note taking and many whispers and head nods to what was being taught. It was another win for the Kingdom!!!! 

They woke up nice and early to prepare for Saddleback Kids Manila church services. Pastor Rick was there this weekend so the turn out was amazing. The team did an amazing job supporting SK Manila team in whatever needed to be done. They had a great time leading worship and teaching alongside SK Manila. After the two services they eat a delicious pizza lunch and prepared to do childcare for SK Manila volunteers. Pastor Rick put on a special thank you lunch for all Saddleback Volunteers, so the team allowed all the volunteers to have a place to take their kids so they could go. The rest of the day they spent preparing for the training that they will be putting on tomorrow for the Saddleback Kids volunteers. The team is doing a great job of being fast, fluid and flexible. Way to go team!

After reenergizing over lunch the team divided and conquered to serve in a "Kids' Camp" in Busanza and Kimironko.  In Busanza, the Uhrigs, Thorntons, Kearleys, Prater-Telles, Rossers and Marins were blessed by the welcoming sounds of the children's choir practicing.  After listening to their beautiful voices they danced in praise of the Lord.  Then it was time for a "Grow" VBS-style time with 42 children.  As for the Kimironko team, the Walshes, Kandels and Daniela taught approximately 75 children about "Worship" through Scriptures, testimony, crafts and object lesson.  And of course no time of worship would be complete without a round of football (soccer).

At the end of the day, the team members are exhausted but they are already forming ties that are connecting them deeply to the people of Rwanda.  And it's only day one of ministry.  With that, please pray for energy as the days are long and can be exhausting like today.  Pray for His ministry that will be done at CGF Busanza and Kimironko because of today's ministry and what lies ahead tomorrow as they return to the two churches for Sunday morning ministry.  Pray for the hearts of our team members to continue to be stirred and set ablaze.  Day one is a wrap!

The team did an OUTSTANDING job enduring long flights with little to no time in-between.  After a 9 hour and 50 minute flight to Amsterdam, 45 minute connection between (flight was delayed) and then a 7 hour and 50 minute flight to Rwanda we are happy to report that all 25 team members and ALL the luggage made it safe and sound to Rwanda.  Pray for restful sleeps for all as airplane snoozing was scarce.  Pray for acclimation to the team, climate and surroundings.  Great things are to come tomorrow with a FULL day of ministry.  Here we go!!!

The team has successfully arrived in Manila and had a good first day. They got through the airport fine and were able to experience Manila traffic, oh what a JOY! So think Friday night LAX traffic times 10, yes they are really in Manila now. :) They then got to the hotel and like Manila fashion everything took longer than expected so they were not able to go out to do any ministry that day, but were very blessed by a great dinner and Jorin's (Children's Director) testimony. Jorin shared his story and then the vision of SK Manila and how the team can help support them in that vision this next week. The team wrapped it up with logistics and preparation for the next day and then headed to bed. Good night Manila!!!  

The Manila Team has safely arrived in Seoul, Korea. It is 5:30 am so they are nice and awake now. ;)They had an uneventful flight and most people were able to get some sleep. They are hanging out in their terminal and getting breakfast! Keep praying for them as they quickly arrive to Manila!

The SK Manila team is beginning their long journey to the Philippines.  Please pray for their ease of transport, restful flying and loads of memories as they are airborne soon.

Saddleback Kids Manila PEACE Trip

June 24 to July 5

31 person-team

Saddleback Kids RwandaPEACE Trip

June 25 to July 9

25 person-team

STAY TUNED for each team's daily updates once they begin their journeys to the land God is leading them to...