Saturday was our annual Big Day at Vipingo. We often refer to this day like bringing Disney Land to Kenya. We invite all the surrounding community and have about 5,000 people attend. Some of the fun activities include:
Soccer tournament. Competitive teams play in qualifying rounds for a month to achieve a spot in this day's tournament. The play is high level and fun to watch.
A competitive volleyball tournament.
A school choir competition. They are so good!
Face painting.
A bounce house
Camel rides
Acrobats
And lots of activities with the kids by the team.
Everyone was served a delicious Kenyan meal.
Mounds of food served on platters that will feed several children at once. Feeding 5000 is a LOT of food!
And mounds of dishes!!
The main stage provides great entertainment with games and nationally known artists.
A view of the crowd
O'Neal (green shirt) is the organizer of the main stage events. He takes care of everything from arranging, setting up and running the stage and sound to lining up and caring for the talent who come to perform. We are so grateful for all he does for this event!
Guy had the opportunity to speak to the crowd and give the gospel with O'Neal translating. Just before the last performer and gospel presentation, the amplifier caught on fire resulting in the loss of sound. With some quick thinking, the team was able to find a replacement quickly so they could proceed. After Guy spoke and prayed with the crowd, many raised their hands professing Christ as their savior. We are grateful that the devil didn't win that round!
In closing, the awards were presented.
As darkness began to ascend the team departed tired, but filled with all that God had accomplished today. Thank you for your prayer and support for us on this journey. We are so grateful to be a part of all that God is doing here!
Tomorrow/Sunday we will be at Crossroads Fellowship Church in Mombasa in the morning. Our missionary, Jim Horne, is the pastor. It is much like Fox River and always a joy to be there. After a quick lunch we will head to Bomani for a smaller scale celebration like today. Bomani is a much smaller community and we expect a crowd of about 1000. Please pray that God will go before us to prepare the hearts of those who will hear the gospel in Bomani.