2026 CLC Mission Helper Trip to East Africa

On July 13th, we spent the school day at St. David's Lutheran Church and School in Etago, Kenya! When we arrived, all the children pre-primary through grade six were waiting for us eagerly outside! We all assembled in the main assembly building (the building they use for their church services), and after a few words from the pastor and a few elders and teachers, and a few songs from the children, we began our teaching program. After our teaching program was over, we ate lunch (most of the children go home for lunch, and come back for afternoon classes) and we got to speak with the teachers about what an average school day looks like in Kenya! They use an average grading scale with percentages for Exceeds Expectations, Meets Expectations, Approaching Expectations, and Below Expectations. The students are separated by grade for daily classes, much like in America, and have classes such as Reading, Mathematics, Social Studies, Writing, Technology, and mo...

It is hard to believe that Team Zambia has been here for four days already. With the lack of sleep and busy schedule, the days really blend together.  Having been on Tour Choir before, I've grown to appreciate worship through music more. One of the purest representations of what I imagine heaven might look like is people collectively praising God through song. It is such a unifying and beautiful experience. So when multiple different choir groups sang for the church service on Sunday, it made me feel very emotional picturing all of us rejoicing in heaven together. Even typing that last sentence made me get emotional thinking about it.  Life is hard. Everyone has problems, and lots of them. That can make the world a hard place to be. But when there are moments like these that make me think about what heaven is going to be like, when there will be no...

Hello everyone! We're bussing back to Lusaka from Kitwe today. Our time in Kitwe has been such blessing. We taught our first lessons here, sang and worshipped with the ZCLC for the Sunday service, and met so many amazing people! Overall, we taught over 400 children in Kitwe.  The theme of our lessons are based off of John 20:31 "These words are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." My lesson specifically is teaching children that Jesus is true God by using the Bible story of the feeding of the 5,000. One of my favorite parts of teaching is asking review questions at the end of my lesson. The very last question is "What does this story teach us about Jesus?" The children will raise their hands excited to answer and say "Jesus is God!" Or "Jesus loves us!" The room then erupts with clapping and laughter. It fills my h...

Yesterday gave us two more opportunities to share the Gospel with children, first at Vision of East African Children School and later at Aston Vision Primary School. The children in the morning were mostly around three or four years old. In the afternoon, they were closer to five or six. Both groups were wonderful. They were warm, joyful, and eager to participate. One thing that has changed during the trip is how I present my part of the lesson. I began with more of a written script. Now I am increasingly telling the story directly and watching the children as I speak. That has helped me connect with them and respond more naturally in the moment. Our program is divided among four presenters, but Eubank translates every part. By the time we completed both programs, he was understandably tired. His work has been a tremendous gift throughout these days. Translators must listen carefully, understand the thought, carry it into another language, and help the speaker connect with the peopl...