Serving The Church
Every year as part of the KCI internship programme interns from the Windsor team travel to our campus in Robertson, South Africa to support the church with their gifts and talents. They also have loads of fun and spend time in Cape Town, exploring one the world's most beautiful cities.
This year eight interns and some of the pastoral team travelled to South Africa and were involved in visiting local schools, running a Youth Camp and Kids Church, as well as aiding the office and worship teams.
Visiting The Schools
The interns visited five local primary and secondary schools, seeing over 4,000 children, where they recreated the experience of the weekly Kids Church programme through games, worship and a message of a fresh start with God. The aim was to show the children what Kids Church is about and invite them to a special Easter service.
The children were amazed by the enthusiasm and passion of the team, which could be seen in their excitement. It was fantastic for the interns to be able to meet them at Easter time and share the Good News that Jesus is alive and can change their lives. Joanna Willgress, one of the intern team involved in ministry activities said:
"There was such an excitement amongst the children when we visited the schools and it's amazing to see how much joy they have. It’s always a good reminder that your circumstances don’t have to determine your attitude."
Another intern, Tom Penny added:
"Our visitations throughout the week gave children from schools all around Robertson the opportunity to experience Christ in a very new way, and for a 30 minute slot, the kids were able to experience what Kids Church would be like."
Supporting Kids Church
King's Church International, Robertson runs an exciting service for children aged 5-13 every Sunday. This includes games, worship, Bible stories and teaching and attracts hundreds of children from a diverse set of backgrounds, including many from the local townships. The Easter special service happened during the trip and, thanks to the school visits, attracted over 750 children, more than double the number from the previous week.
Hannah Quinton, one of the interns filming the event said:
"A four year old girl was staring at my phone, and I showed her my camera which was capturing Kids Church. I thought 'how can I make this moment even more magical for her?' so I switched it to selfie mode. She had never seen something like this before and it felt supernatural to her. I felt it was a metaphor for how God can be supernatural in our lives."
At The Youth Camp
The Interns also ran the first KCI Robertson Youth Camp during their visit. This included a talent show, sports, preaching, worship, skills sessions, a treasure hunt and a colour run. It was a huge success, with over 40 young people in attendance and lives transformed.
Megan Spzur summed up the feel of the camp:
"It was so much fun, with the colour run, it’s a knockout, the bonfire and barbecues, the young people loved it."
Tom Penny added:
"For these youth this was something completely new and it was a life changing moment...in South Africa the youth have serious problems. They're involved in gangs, they come from abusive families, and they had no hope, but at the camp they saw that Jesus could come into their life and totally transform it. We saw a change in them in just three days, seeing people go from very shy to be outgoing and themselves again, it was truly amazing"
Personal Testimonies
It was a transformative time for the interns who were moved by what they saw in South Africa, but honoured to have been able to serve and help change lives. Nikita Baptiste said:
"South Africa had a big impact on me, it was amazing and also a real eye opener. Having my son near my side to experience it with me was fantastic. A little boy was so excited when we gave him a sandwich, when he looked inside and saw a simple piece of ham he was amazed, it made us really appreciate what we have in England."
Edward Foster also felt the same:
"To see how happy every child was despite having so many challenges both socially and economically really made me realise just how privileged we are in the UK."
Edward Slade was moved by what he saw:
"The amount of energy the kids have is incredible. It was amazing to see, they come from broken backgrounds but are so happy to see you."
Frankie Lavender added:
"Seeing all the kids at kids church was really special, it was great family atmosphere and fantastic to work with the team and build on the amazing work that is happening out there."
Make Your Trip A Reality
Check out the highlights from this year's intern trip to Robertson below.
Applications for the KCI Internship 2016-17 are now open. As an intern, you can grow in your faith, develop your skills, have a life-changing year and visit Robertson for yourself. You can find all of the details about the internship here.