While our Toloha Vision Team was preparing to leave for Toloha, Erasing the Lines was happening in Kinston. Erasing the Lines or ETL is an amazing annual event for middle school and high school students. The students participate in community projects, Vacation Bible School, worship services, missions activities, Bible Study and more in Kinston and around Lenoir County. Around 190 students participated in ETL this year, and Toloha Partnership was privileged to share with them about Toloha for the second time. Last year, we held our very first water walk with the ETL students (Click to see a post here and here and watch a video here).
This year, we gave the students a little glimpse of what it might be like to live in Toloha. The students were given different roles as villagers, put into families, given a certain amount of money and assigned an occupation. They learned how the villagers gather water, wash their clothes, sell things in the market and care for their families. They were also given an opportunity to write letters in Swahili to the villagers, sing songs in Swahili, write in prayer journals and pray for specific people and projects in Toloha. It was pretty amazing! Check out some photos from the day!
Students walk a quarter mile to collect water for their “families.”
Students collected water from a spout similar to the one the villagers use in Toloha.
Students were able to sell “clothes,” “firewood” and corn at the market.
Students were put into “families” given roles and “money” to help their family survive.
Students learned how villagers do laundry in Toloha.
Students learned how the villagers must conserve water while washing their laundry.
Students wrote prayers for Toloha in a journal.
Students gave a try singing a worship song in Swahili.
Students were given index cards with names of people in Toloha or specific prayer requests on them. They prayed aloud in a group for the items on the card.
A huge thank you to our amazing volunteers who ran the Toloha Station!
We would love to do a similar activity with local youth groups, schools, VBS or college groups. If you are interested in learning more, please contact us or email us at info@tolohapartnership.org.