The 2013 school year in Kenya is officially over! Over 800,000 Eighth Graders and 400,000
Twelfth Graders took their National Exams and are waiting patiently for their
results. The closing week of the school
year at CGA was filled with all kinds of activities!
Monday
Giving Back:
Service Day
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to
serve…” -Mark 10:45
The students spent the whole day serving, with the
teachers and staff alongside of them. It
was tiring work in the hot African sun; but a great opportunity to teach
students (and also the staff) about serving.
The students were urged that they should be serving on a regular basis;
not just when we do it as a school, but even at home, in their churches and in
the community.
Tuesday
Mashindano Day:
Class Competition and Games
On Tuesday, the staff and students enjoyed a day of
competition (Mashindano in
Kiswahili). The students were put into
two teams and they competed in football, volleyball, netball, running relays,
sack race, balancing a tomato on a spoon in their mouth as they run, and
pouring water into their mouth, running and then spitting it out into a
cup.
The Tie-Breaking contest between the two teams was a
relay where they had to run down the basketball court, get dressed with a
t-shirt, skirt, big shoes and a crown.
After dressing, they had to run down and back, take off those clothes
and return to the starting line to tag the next person. It was a dramatic finish which ended with the
winning team dancing, shouting, running and the biggest smiles ever seen! Check out this 30 sec video of the students celebrating:
Everyone had a blast on Mashindano Day, but they also
learned about teamwork and unity; whether winning or losing. We even saw talents in some of them that we
didn’t know they had!
Wednesday,
November 20, 2013
Closing Day:
Awards and Chapel
The final day of the 2013 school year concluded with a
joint Chapel. Joe led the whole CGA
family in praise and worship, and then in the teaching time. They were reminded about the theme for CGA
this year: Jesus is the Way, Truth, and the Life. The focus for this chapel was that we are
blessed to be a blessing to others. In
Genesis 12:1-3, God is making a covenant with Abraham and promises to bless him
and that he, in turn, will be a blessing to others.
Students shared the different ways they are blessed; such
as having a family, a school to learn in, food to eat, clothes to wear, shelter
at night, medical treatment when they are sick and eternal life. Those who appreciate what they have, are
always ready to return those blessings to others around them. The students also shared practical ways of
how they can be a blessing to others; such as saying a kind word, sharing their
things, teaching others what they already know and serving others.
Joe urged them that during their 6-weeks of school
vacation they should strive to be a blessing to their family at home, members in
their church and people in the community.
The chapel concluded with each student receiving a Bible to take home
with them courtesy of the Gideon’s.
Upcoming School
Break
December CGA events include food distribution to the
families caring for orphans and the annual Christmas party. However, the students are on vacation until
the 2014 school year which begins on January 8th.
Though the school year is over, Team Pete will be very
busy in the coming weeks. The last week
of November will be consumed with the CGA Secondary Reunion with all our
secondary school students. A team from
Nairobi will be coming to share during the week-long conference. In December our focus will be on the Suba
Lakers. There are numerous tournaments
when school is not in session. We will
have football training and academic training with our primary and secondary
girls, and we hope to participate in several of those tournaments. We look forward to having extra time with our
girls!
