An evangelistic camp for deaf children in Kenya.

OVERVIEW

PROGRAM GOALS

One goal in our vision to see the deaf community in Kenya know Jesus Christ as Savior was to have an evangelistic camp for deaf teens. After prayer and consideration, we decided that during the school holidays in December would be a good time to reach that goal. With the support of the Deaf Baptist Church (Nairobi, Kenya) church leadership, the first camp for deaf teens was held December 8-13, 1997 at a boarding school located just 15 miles outside of Nairobi.

PROGRAM METHODS

The morning of the December 8, 1997, 32 deaf teens and 7 deaf adult leaders gathered in the parking lot of the Deaf Baptist Church. The teens were excited, shy, curious, and apprehensive. A small truck transported the group to camp. Upon arrival, the teens were registered and divided into 3 groups. They would stay in these groups during the daily morning sessions. The ages of the teens was 12 to 19. All of them are students attending various boarding schools for the deaf scattered throughout Kenya. Two of the teens are orphans. The daily schedule is listed below:

7:00-Leaders gathered for prayer.
8:00-Breakfast.
9:00-Group singing, announcements, group prayers.
9:30-11:00-Groups were with teacher for Bible teaching.
11:15-12:30-Games.
12:30-2:00-Lunch and free time.
2:00-4:00-Games and fun.
4:00-Tea time.
4:30-6:00-Miscellaneous activities (e.g., Charlie Chaplin video, trip to a nearby animal
game park, testimonies, introduction of leaders).
6:30-9:00-Skits, singing, and Club.
9:00-Hot chocolate.
10:00-Lights out.

The teaching curriculum was pre-planned:

Monday-Creation.
Tuesday-Fall of man.
Wednesday-Jesus birth (beginning with the angel talking to Mary and ending with the wisemen visiting).
Thursday-Jesus death and resurrection.
Friday-What will you decided about Jesus?
Saturday-Departure after breakfast.

All communication was done in Kenyan Sign Language and all activities were relevant to Deaf Kenyan culture. The teens were free to be themselves, and the leaders loved and accepted them unconditionally.
During the morning teaching sessions, each group had to create a ballad and a song from the day's teaching. Each group then presented their ballad at the beginning of the evening session. It was awesome to see the creativity and sincerity in those ballads.
Only a few of the campers knew that God created the earth and that Jesus died on the cross. Even those who knew the two "stories" did not understand when sin came into the world nor did they understand why man is still a sinner. None of them knew why Jesus to suffer (or how he suffered) on a cross. And few of them never had been challenged to make a decision concerning God's gift to them in Jesus.
The teens who knew about the Gospel share that they had never before completely understood the Christian faith. Yet now, it made sense, because the Gospel was communicated in their own heart language and in a context which was meaningful to them.
Several were moved to tears as they realized that Jesus suffered for them. Truly, the Holy Spirit was active and moving and had prepared these young hearts to "hear" His voice. On Friday, seven deaf teenagers willingly came forward to confess their sins, ask Jesus to take control of their lives, and commit themselves to follow Jesus. Five other deaf teens came forward to recommit their faith. For the others, seeds were sown, and we are confident that there will be a harvest for them in the seasons ahead.

PROGRAM OPERATION

We chose the boarding school because of the cooking and sleeping facilities, and because it has reliable electricity for evening activities.
To prepare for camp, the leaders met for seven days to pray, plan, prepare, and practice for the camp's activities. The commitment of the leaders was essential to the camp's success.
No one was ill or hurt during the week. The food preparers were accomodating and cheerful. The leaders were closely unified, and they constantly interacted with the teens.

PROGRAM TESTIMONIES

This first camp experience for 32 deaf teens was powerful and meaningful. The camp was the first goal toward communicating the love of Jesus to all deaf people in Kenya. The teens didn't want to leave camp, and they asked if there would be another camp soon.

Boniface Muriithi cCYS