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20 February 2005 I KNOW I CAN Nairobi Teen Mini Camp Through The Eyes Of A Teen Worker By Paul Wekesa, teen worker, and Nancy Chepchumba, teen It was Friday the 31st and the place of convergence was the Nairobi Railway Station, time noon. Teens arrived in twos and threes and others streamed in. Some rushed to nearby supermarket to grab some last-minute snacks. We cracked jokes and laughed together as we waited for transport. Did I say (former leader of Nairobi teens ministry and current leader of the Kigali church) Stanley Ochieng' was in the house? He was. At around 2 p.m. the vehicles we had hired zoomed in powerfully and every teen found himself a seat. I took the smaller vehicle amongst others. We made some good noise in there, more jokes, more laughter. Wow, it was a cool, quiet place. We celebrated at trees, tall ones and heavily branched ones all over the place, sunlight passing through, reaching the ground, monkeys on the trees, birds singing and their music filling the air. There was a clearing where our vehicles stopped, and right there the kitchen stared at us. At 6:30 p.m. Jado (i.e. Jarrett Odwallo, leader of Nairobi's youth ministry) shared an introductory class with us based on 2 Chronicles 33 about Manasseh and 34:1-5 about Josiah, two teens who learnt lessons and with whom God was pleased, especially Josiah, who had great zeal for God. Just before supper, after the class, we went into our groups and prepared skits about goals and dreams. It was exciting! At around 8:30 pm, dinner was ready. Guys had it to their fill. Stano zoomed in at 10:20 pm with a class titled "On Wings Like Eagles" with his first point "I Know God Can" and second point "Because He Said So." The scriptures on the first point were Isaiah 40:28-31, point - things can change if one puts his hope in the Lord. Philippians 4:13 - God can give one the strength to do "everything." Luke 18:22, mark 6:30-41. On second point - Luke 8:1 It was great to learn that God will not stop loving us and that God is the only one who strengthens us. We went right to the bonfire with all kinds of noise and fun. Cracked jokes as we awaited the New Year. It struck and heaven broke loose. 30 minutes after midnight, we did our skits before the bonfire and later guys were at liberty to go to sleep. Tea was plenty. Instead of going to sleep, though, guys started a competition trading (clean!) jokes about each other. It was the showstopper for the night. Guys laughed till their ribs ached and their stomachs hurt. Only a few slept. The next day at 6 am guys went to pray and have their QT's together in threes and fours. At 8 am tea was ready, served with bread, mini doughnuts and boiled eggs. We ate to our fill then fellowshipped together, and at 9:30 am (co-lead evangelist) Steve Mukenya shared a class on "Dare To Dream." It had two points: 1. God Loves You Zephaniah 3:17; Matthew 13:15; 1 Peter 5:8,9; 2 Corinthians 2:5-11; Ephesians 6:11; Genesis 3:1-5; John 8:44; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Ephesians 6:16; Isaiah 49:15; Matthew 7:11 2. Clothed With Christ Zechariah 3:1,2; 3-5; Galatians 3:26,27 We then split into groups and shared from what Steve had preached. We learned that it is the devil who keeps us from dreaming. I (Nancy) learned that I should not give up on my dreams and should always fight to achieve them. Finally we left at around 3 pm. All the teens said they'd had great fun and made resolutions for the year, most of them to be faithful. |