Usakos Mission Trip

Most people just drive through Usakos, perhaps making only a pitstop on their way to or from the coast. It's a small town with only around 3,000 people and not even a stop light, so it's easy to miss. But those are 3,000 image bearers of God in desperate need of a relationship with Jesus. So when my parents wanted to bring a team from the States, that's where we spent our week of ministry.

Tucked away behind the town is a small vocational training school called Anistemi College and Training Centre. Anistemi is the Greek word for "rise up." They accept students who have dropped out or struggled in traditional schools and offer them a variety of programs including office admin, I.T., joinery, and hospitality/tourism. Student range from age 16 to mid-twenties. Our team stayed with students in the hostel (dorm) and led a holiday club during a week off from classes. We played lots of games together and held workshops and discussion groups on tough topics like overcoming addictions, pornography, and trust. But perhaps the most profitable times happened "in between" as we built relationships with students over a cup of soup, late night conversations or walks around town.

Playing a game of "Chicken, Cowboy, Conquer"

Playing soccer in the riverbed

Trust fall activity during a workshop about trust

We had small group discussions after each workshop.

Walking around town with the students

We also worked together with Maranatha Church to hold a women's & youth conference in the evenings. We held a combined praise & worship time and then split up for the talks. The church mostly organized the women's side while our team led the youth side and helped with childcare. We had about 40ish youth each night and through the testimonies of our team members, we again tackled some tough topics like the effects of alcohol, forgiveness, and overcoming past hurts. The childcare proved invaluable for some of the women to have time away from their kids to focus on the message. A few of our team members had some nightly attachments once the crying toddlers got comfortable with them!

Serving soup and bread for a light dinner before the conference

Teaching a Bible lesson during the childcare time 

Linda speaking for the women's conference

Steve speaking for the youth conference

We spent the last few days as a team doing some touristy things, debriefing the trip and helping them focus on going back home. Some teams come to build 'stuff' like wells or buildings, but we came to build relationships and invest in people. While 'stuff' decays and passes away, people's souls last forever. And that's an investment worth making every time.