21 August 2009

Bethany started our day off with a great devotion over breakfast about thanking God for everything. We piled on the bus for our first day of the Kandy Conference, to be held in Shanthi's church.

Kandy is traditionally slow to start and this day was no exception. Despite the people still arriving, we began with some singing led by the local team and David launched into his opening keynote talk on the importance of vision. As has been the case with the other conferences, there were lots of young people and also the largest proportion of male delegates present.

Another difference with this conference was having Sinhala and Tamil translation in the main sessions, and we also arranged for one workshop each session to be translated into Tamil. There were a number of familiar faces in the crowd for those who have been to Kandy before...but also lots of new faces which is very encouraging.

Lunch was packets - takeaway rice with a couple of different spoonfuls of some curry on the side, all wrapped in a piece of plastic and then in a piece of butcher's paper - like a packet. We also had some lovely little tubs of yoghurt and some plain cupcakes and biscuits.

We resumed after lunch with a game by Bethany and this time she chose as her 'volunteers' Shanthi and Pastor David...as well as one of the young boys who have been helping with the singing. It was very funny to see them trying to blow a piece of paper off their forehead, and had the whole place laughing.

David concluded his talk on vision...looking at the life of Moses as he led the Israelites. He asked everyone to write down the names of some of the children that they minister to, and then write down the gifts and abilities that each child has. It was a challenging message - to lead children with a view to developing the gifts that each one possesses. We also prayed for leaders of the various children's ministries that were present at the conference. It was a powerful session, giving us all a lot to think and pray about.

At the conclusion of the days teaching we decided to head off in pairs to get various tasks done. Shopping for some, finishing wrapping presents for others. Some folded the washed clothes - and most of us have now caught up on our washing..between the Kidsreach washing machine and the hotel graciously allowing us to use their washing machine, even hanging out or bringing in the clothes for us. Doesn't matter how far you travel, there are some chores which remain. It is a good feeling to get the washing sorted.

As we walked along Peradiniya Road...most of us are feeling more at home here in Kandy...for most of us Kandy has been our favourite place so far in Sri Lanka...we are getting more familiar with the town layout and also feeling like we can venture out with a little more confidence...some of the strangeness has worn off. We also like the cooler climate - makes the day to day living less of a strain - less draining. The people here are very friendly and there are lots of beautiful views - up into the mountains which surrround Kandy, and also the lake which is in the centre of town.

We all met back at Kidsreach for dinner which was purchased by Carol and Julie at the local supermarket. They took a bit longer than expected to finalise their purchases as they had few interesting encounters with the service lift...which was not providing much service and caused a small amount of merriment for the staff of the supermarket. But it's moments like these that make the trip memorable.

We got back to the hotel for an early night....it's nice to have an evening of just slopping around...Sarah and Andrew walked back from town to the hotel around the lake...a lovely end to the day. We are all looking forward to the final day of the Kandy Conference and continuing the work that God has begun here.