The John Huffman School

We have been going over to the John Huffman School a couple of times a week.  The school is pre-K through middle school.  It has been good to put the skills God has given us to use and to be able plant seeds to ultimately further His kingdom.  We are still in the process of meeting a few more people in hopes of getting some more sports activities going as well.   

The John Huffman School is run by the local church.  There are some Christian staff and students who do work at and attend the school, however the majority of the students are Muslim which is no surprise since 95% of the population in Senegal is Muslim.  It has been a pleasure to come alongside fellow Senegalese believers to use sports to get kids to come to the afterschool program.

We have started going earlier to the school because we have found if we are there playing, the kids will come.  We aren’t exactly sure how much of it is because they like us or we have a ball.  We will just keep telling ourselves it’s because they like us J.  But this has been a great way for us to actually get to build relationships with the kids and learn more about them. 

The afterschool program begins with an opening prayer and followed by a warm up which is usually done to Christian music.  Then we split up into two groups: soccer and basketball.  Usually there are about 60-70 kids that come some of which don’t attend the John Huffman School but just live in the neighborhood.  At some point during the program, we have a “moral” lesson for the kids which is usually Biblical without mentioning the Bible. Being subtle here is key since the majority of the kids that come are Muslim. If we just started preaching about Jesus each time then many of the kids would not be allowed to come back.  It is a matter of being patient and trusting that we are able to show Christ’s love through our actions.  After all, actions speak louder than words, right? 

Below are some pictures of the program at the John Huffman School.