January 28th - The DANCE-adventure starts (Mombasa)

January 28th started as a normal day. To be honest I didn't really wanted to go out to do ministry, but it ended up being one of the coolest days of outreach for me. It was the day I danced in front of people for the first time during outreach; even though I hadn't planned anything and didn't even bring music.
That day we had planned to go out to a few different high schools in the afternoon, and we had some time to prepare for them in the morning. The group I was in decided to go with Anne (one of our contacts for the high schools) to Likoni Boys High School. The  school was about a fifteen minute drive from the YWAM base here in  Mombasa, so we needed to take 'Tuk Tuks' (three-wheeled taxis in Kenya).
When we arrived at the school we saw a Coca Cola truck parked by the entrance of the school, and we wondered what could be going on. We the to the office with Anne to try and figure out what was happening. We ended up having to wait until all the Coca Cola craziness was finished before we could begin. While we were waiting we watched what was happening with the Coca Cola truck and the boys. It was very amusing the to watch how all of the boys went so crazy about Coke, and it made me think--am I, or are we, this crazy when it comes to Jesus? It's a good questions, and I thought I could use this question as the introduction to our time with the boys. Also, Coca Cola had arranged a dance battle for the boys on the stage they had; so I joked  with Anne about how it would be funny if I, as a Mzungu (white person), would go up there and dance. However we came to the conclusion that since I was a girl and it was an all boys school, that it would be better if I didn't dance.
But thanks to Anne and her introduction I ended up being 'forced' to dance in front of everyone. Her,  my group, and the boys were all encouraging me to dance. I said that I'd dance but only if a boy would dance as well, sort of like a dance battle. Then I got the idea of asking the whole team to dance as well, since they are the reason I was having to dance in  front of everyone. I asked for six volunteers from the students and told my team  that we would rotate between them and us, similar to one-on-one battles. In the end I asked Anne to dance with me, so that she could show of her moves. It was so much fun and it really caused there to be a more open atmosphere.
I spoke to the boys,  and after I finished off the introduction I told them that Jesus is so much better than any coke, or any drug, because he gives us life and lets us experience really adventures that are so much better  than any Coca Cola event at school.
This day started a break through in dancing for me during outreach. Before I just didn't feel comfortable dancing in front of people and was believing a lot of lies about myself and my dancing. A couple of days later the Revive outreach team from Herrnhut, who were also staying at the Base for a couple of weeks, decided to do 'Pure Heart' with us. Through this I felt how all the pressure and weight I had been feeling disappeared. I started to break out my shell and step out and into what God has prepared for me. The next day, Hannah--one of the leaders from the Revive team--challenged me to dance during worship. She is also a dancer, and could understand what I was going though with my dancing.
Since then I had the opportunity to dance my testimony dance, for the first time in front of a group of people. Looking back I can see how special that really was to me, because it was in front of children that are awaiting their court cases and are living in a rehab center. Even though I don't know what exactly they are going though, I hope that maybe through my dance they will gain hope and see how they can find rest in God no matter what situation they are going through.