Great start!

Our program this trip is using games, songs, crafts, and exercises from the Springhill Camp program, mixed with bible stories from the Jesus Storybook Bible, the movie "The Lion, the Witch, the Wardrobe", from the Chronicles of Narnia, and the Jesus movie (both of the movies are in Tamil). The people are divided into 5 teams, by colors and animals. I am a member of the yellow team, and our animal is the crow. There are 3 GCC team members on each of the teams, and one of the Springhill Camp leaders is on each of 4 teams, with the 5th led by Alison, who has camp experience, and has jumped right into her role. Of the roughly 150 people of the village, we have 80-100 participating!

We started the week on Sunday evening with introductions, part of the Narnia movie to pique their interest, and a gift tree (in photo) to celebrate the New Year. We distributed blankets to each household, and that was a big hit. The people were so grateful, as many of them don't have anything but their clothing and a mat to sleep on, if they have that. The nights at this time of year dip below 60 degrees, and their "furnace", which is very effective during the day, never

comes on at night!

We sat with the people as we watched the movie, and a slideshow of pictures from the previous team visits, including some great music videos from the August team.

We took turns passing out the gifts and the blankets (stacked against the wall in the background of the picture). It was fun to use the community center (KC3) for its purpose: community!