Today’s blog post comes from Michael Handler—storyteller, marketing strategist, and campaign manager for Awana.
From January through May I had the opportunity to travel to seven different destinations with a production crew in order to film “MORE” a global documentary of what God is doing through the ministry of Awana. Over the course of those months we went a number of incredible places and saw amazing sights, ate a lot of unique foods (I only got sick once) and saw thousands of kids who have been change by the Gospel. No two cultures were exactly alike, but there were a few universal trends we noticed to be constant no matter where we were, and perhaps one of the most precious was the fact that all kids love to have fun.
This probably isn’t an amazing revelation; after all, all people love having fun right? Fun distracts us, makes us laugh, makes us forget the hard and sad truths that surround us. Fun is an escape and a way to engage others. Yet when I saw kids having fun in some very difficult situations, it seemed so unique.
One such situation involves the wooden top you see above. This top, which is actually a hand carved toy made from a tree root, was a huge hit in the Nyarugusu Camp in Tanzania. This camp is a huge tract of land and houses thousands of Congolese refugees. It was the first and hardest location we went to.
Allow me to give a brief explanation on the poverty in the camp. Civil war has been a part of the history the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since the mid 1990’s. The Nyarugusu Camp is one of the largest and longest running camps housing the Congolese people. While the UN have provided materials to build homes and other buildings (churches, mosques and schools), the buildings are mud-brick and thatched-roofed with dirt floors, I can’t recall any of them having glass windows. And while the setting is beautiful, with gorgeous red earth and lush vegetation, the living conditions are those of extreme poverty, with very little commerce and a dwindling supply of food provided by the UN and other aide groups.
I’ve seen slums, shanty towns and the like, places where all hope seems to be gone, but the differences between those places and the refugee camp is that a person living in a slum can walk out. These thousands of Congolese people, many of the adults who have been moved here for their safety, can’t just walk out. Almost all the kids we encountered were born here. what is a custom domain Their lives are here. They don’t know the feel of their native soil under their feet. They’ve never looked up into a Congolese sky. The land of their fathers and their fathers’ fathers only exist in stories to them. And at this point, they’ll never be home.
Let that sink in.
We met a man named Bwami, who wept with a sense of intense longing to return to his home in the DRC. His passion just to be with his people in their homeland reminded me of Paul’s desire for Heaven towards the end of his ministry.
Yet even here, where red dust covers everything, except when it rains and everything is caked in thick, red mud, even here there is hope and joy and laughter. Even here, God is working. list of websites Bwami helps lead the Awana ministry in the camp among the dozens of churches. Kids are being reached with the Gospel. Because of the assurance they have in Christ, the kids who live here can laugh with sincere and true joy.
The top you see is nothing more than a handmade toy. It can’t replace the freedom that we may feel these kids deserve, the freedom to be home, but it does offer an escape. And even if it is just for a moment, while it spins and whirls, kicking up dust from the red earth, this top provides laughter, joy and a welcome distraction for these kids. If I’m honest, the laughter of these kids even provides me a sense of home for me as I think of my own kids, thousands of miles away.
To see the whole story, go to awana.org/more. (+)MORE, the Awana global documentary will be available for view or download starting 9/10/14.
