Thousands expected for VBS 2023
A group of students from the Siha District who attended VBS from the 2022 sessions!
Did you know that 63 people will be traveling to the village of Karansi over the summer to serve on Ubora Mission Trips? Of the 63, more than half will be making their first visit to Karansi! All of Ubora’s impact programs will be operating at high capacity, providing people, resources and valuable connections to our friends in Tanzania. Here are a few highlights we’d like to share…
Health
Ubora’s Health Impact team will kick things off with health screenings for children in the village. Led by our partners from Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies, this team will include first-time professors and nursing students! During these screenings, we will be rolling out a new IT healthcare solution to log and safely track confidential patient data. Special thanks to our IT lead, Louis Strydom, for his invaluable work in sourcing the hardware required and getting the system HIPAA compliant, and up and running!
Community: Vacation Bible School
Over 2,500 children from throughout the village and district will be learning about the love of Christ through two weeks of Vacation Bible School. This year’s theme, Njoo Uone, “Come and See”, (Psalm 66:5) promises to touch many young lives…some may never have heard the message of redemptive love through Jesus Christ! Many hands and hearts have been busy preparing lessons, materials and teams for this week, including Pastor Godfrey Seuya, former headmaster of SLS and Carter Rhea, Ubora Community Impact lead.
How can you help? We are in need of supplies! Click here for our Amazon wishlist for VBS.
Week of June 19th
VBS Week One will take place on the campus of Siha Leadership School. Twenty-three Ubora team members will be traveling to Karansi to help serve in VBS, along with teachers and leadership from SLS and Pastor Wariaeli’s church. We are expecting 400 to 500 kids each day! The morning will start off with jubilant worship, followed by fun crafts and other hands-on activities that will teach about Jesus. The morning sessions will conclude with lunch.
During this week, we will be hosting our first ever sports camp for children in the afternoon! Our partners from Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA)—led by Daniel Lazier—will be onsite to use sports activities as a bridge to teach children about the love of Jesus. The afternoon VBS activities will begin with lunch, a devotion, and sports camp featuring different sports.
Our Business Impact team will also be on the ground that week, with two business team members exploring new opportunities for job creation and identifying potential business partners in the village.
Week of June 26th
We will be taking the message of “Njoo Uone” to six different churches in the Siha District during VBS Week 2. VBS will be taught by eleven Ubora members from the U.S., along with staff and leadership from SLS, and Pastor Godfrey and Daniel Mollel. Activities will include worship, crafts and lunch. We are expecting to reach 1,500+ children total during this week.
Other non-VBS activities taking place this week include a visit to the new land for expansion of SLS, time for men to spend with the babas, a visit to Kilimanjaro Recovery Home and local Rotary clubs, and a chance to mentor SLS staff.
Closing this section with a word from Pastor Godfrey, from a report he wrote at the conclusion of last year’s VBS…
