Ministry Update: Michael’s Children’s Village, White River,
South Africa
We got to our
new ministry site and the first thing I thought was, “It’s AMAZING!!!” There
are 13 of us and we all have a bed!!
The girls
have our own room and our bathroom is connected to it which is a HUGE blessing
because we don’t have to walk down a hall or to another building to pee or poop
or shower or whatever.
It’s great.
And, the best part? We have our own kitchen… a whole kitchen… to use whenever
we want!!!! And I get to cook and all four eyes on the stove function properly
which has not yet happened for our team. YAY!
And it’s
BEAUTIFUL here. The scenery is amazing.
We are
working with Iris Ministries but more specifically, we are staying at a place
called “Michael’s Children’s Village” and it’s in a community called
“Back Door.” Cool, huh?
Anyway- the
kids here are great.
The long-term
missionaries here are great. Our contact is great. The Lord is SPOILING us this
month for sure! We are so thankful. There is an electric fence around the
property with an alarm. There is also a guard on duty at all times. We are very
safe here and feel comfortable with our contacts. Oh, except one thing.
Apparently snakes and scorpions are rampant here. I’ve yet to see one but they
keep telling us to wear shoes always because if we get stung by one we will
wish we were dead. Wowzer, really?
There is a
washing machine, which is ten hundred thousand times better than my hand-washing
techniques. My clothes smell better too. My team calls my big duffle bag
“Big Bertha” or sometimes it’s referred to as “the body
bag.” And my mesh bag that we keep our dirty clothes in is called
“Sha-nay-nay.” Both bags get the
job done and treat us well.
This week,
the kids have been out of school so we have had them here at the orphanage all
week playing games, teaching them dances, watching movies, and all sorts of fun
stuff. Next week we will be ministering up in the community, Back Door.
Iris has
several different ministries up there including a feeding program, the Dream
Center, a preschool, and more.
We thank God
every day for allowing us to be part of such a great ministry with great
people. Our contacts are so considerate and take GREAT care of us. We are one
lucky team of world racers!
So just to
give you a run down of my day:
6:00am – wake
up, brush my teeth, grab my coffee and bible, and head outside.
6:15 – 7:15 I
spend time with Jesus and write a paragraph or two in my Bible.
7:15 – 7:30 I
eat breakfast.
7:30ish to
8:15ish- I work out with 4 other girls. We do an array of workouts.
8:30ish –
9:30ish- I hang out with my team and a large part of that is spent with them in
prayer. We pray for other teams on our squad, unity amongst, the armor of God
over to cover each of us, the Holy Spirit to fill us, and anything else God
puts on our hearts.
9:30ish –
10:15ish we get showered and dressed.
10:30 – we
meet all the kids in the prayer hurt to start our day of activities
12:00 – 2:30
– the kids go back to their houses for lunch and naps which we love because we
do the same thing! ; )
2:30ish –
5:00ish we hang and play with the kids more. I’ve heard a lot of new games
lately.
5:30ish/6:00ish
– our team eats dinner and has family time
For the rest
of the night, we rest, have feedback, and wind down for bed.
Sometimes we
play card games, sometimes we blog and read, or sometimes we just hang out.
8:30-9:30 I
get in bed and fall asleep reading my Bible or listening to a podcast.
Then, I wake
up and do the whole thing over again. Except, of course, every day is different
and brings it’s own joys and challenges.
Our team
truly believes in the vision of this ministry and we are so excited to watch it
grow. You can find out more about Michael’s Children’s Village at http://mcvafrica.com/
