We had a great week of Sports Friends Camp for children with disabilities and their parents! An awesome team from our home church (TVC) came out to help and some of our SIM teammates also came to lend their expertise.

While the TVC team led activities with the children, our SIM teammates led sessions for the parents on caring for their special needs child and also led them through a Trauma Healing workshop with the end goal being that they truly celebrate their child as a great blessing from God. One of the most exciting parts of the whole week was to see the bonding that took place among the parents. The families that were invited to come to camp were all from the same area in order for them to be able to continue their relationships beyond the one week. They have already met twice since then and are continuing the Trauma Healing study together. They have also planned to have group birthday parties for their children which is almost unheard of here, especially a party to celebrate the life of a child who society views as a curse! These parents are literally bubbling with joy as they enjoy these new friendships with others who truly understand their journey.

There is so much momentum right now and two other denominations are excited to take this model into their local churches. These denominations sent their leaders to camp in order to see how to lead these type of ministries. Joseph, our Sports Friends Kenya Ministry Coordinator, truly has a heart for working with families that have children with special needs and he went all out to make camp a total success.

This camp was definitely a one of a kind! Sherri, one of our SIM teammates (PT) said this was one of the top highlights of her 20 years on the mission field! Overall it was an incredibly encouraging time for all involved. Thanks for your prayers leading up to it!

Here’s a video recap: https://vimeo.com/225231913

Blessings!
Shane and Allyson, Hannah, Mia, and Moses