MercyShipsVolunteer-MoveYourBody

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“Move Your Body for Jesus” was sung by our lead singer when we visited the Solidarity Village for the Handicapped. Even though that is what Africans do here, I had not heard the expression sung before. The children joined in first. They were not shy. They jumped up and down and moved to the rhythm of the drums. There were also praise songs in French, English, and the local language. One handicapped man danced on his hands, others with crutches. We taught them, “Celebrate, Jesus, Celebrate”. (They were probably Muslems. Only 8% of the country is Christian.)

During a music break, we played “Duck, Duck, Goose”. We held the children and played hand-clapping games. It was dark with only a sliver of a crescent moon and occasional heat lightening. It is dark at about 6:30 these days.

We see many of these folks on the streets of Conakry begging. Some live together in this village behind a metal fence. The homes varied. Some were concrete with windows. Others were constructed with pieces of wood, cardboard, tin, and drop cloths. Most dwellings seemed to have one light bulb dangling in the center of each. Someone said 600 people live in the village. Near the center was a store that was smaller than your average walk-in closet. I noticed it in the dark because there was a soccer game on the small TV.

We set up our own generator, speaker, microphones drums and a single light in the center of the dirt court yard. There were a couple of trees, no benches or anything else for that matter. Shelly, our Mercy Ministry leader, found out about the place when she visisted a local hospital. We tried to visit several times before but had to cancel because of unrest in the city and holidays.

I hope to go back one more time, next Friday, before I leave for the states on Saturday.

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