Well I have been in South Africa for three weeks now and oh my has time flown by. I feel like it was just yesterday I was on the plane about to reach my final destination feeling both anxious and excited for what was to come. And now I’m here, in Strandfontain, Cape town at a place called Camp Joy, my new home for the next three months! 🙂
You are probably wondering what in the world is Camp Joy?
Camp Joy is a restoration center for men coming out of gangs, drug abuse, and violence. It is a 6 week program where they are required to attend classes, devotions twice a day, work projects in the yard and they even have counseling for the guys. The best part about it is the fact that it is a faith based camp where the guys get to either discover their faith or dig deeper in their relationship with The Lord. These men learn the hope and redemption The Lord has for their lives and get equipped daily with the word so they can apply it to their lives when it is their time to leave and fight against all the temptations this world offers.
Our first day getting here I was terrified. I had all different questions running through my head, “what if I can’t relate to any of the guys?” “What if none of the guys like me?” “What am I even going to say to any of these guys?” I have never been in a gang, I have never even seen the drugs these guys have done, much less tried them, and have grown up in an entirely different environment from them. So how in the world was I suppose to help them?
There I was again, questioning God. Questioning why he placed a group of 6 white girls in a restoration camp full of ex-gang members and drug addicts. Questioning God’s ability to work through me and to be able to touch these guys. Questioning my purpose here at Camp Joy.
After getting to talking to these guys my questions slipped away and my feeling of purpose here multiplied. These guys are seriously incredible. They have been so open and vulnerable with us since day one. They tell their hard and crazy past with boldness and walk in confidence with the way God has transformed their lives. They also love getting to know us and ask us a million of questions about America, our families and our friends and LOVE to see pictures!! It has been such an amazing experience getting to know these guys and doing life with them.
Due to the holiday season, the camp has been slower than it normally is and is kind of on a break right now. There are still around 16 guys here that didn’t go home because they felt they weren’t ready to fight the temptations out there. The programs have stopped and will start back up around the second week of January. So right now, my team and I have just been hanging out with the guys, helping them with yard work, leading devotions every night and pouring as much as we can into them. Also, the first week we got here we had the opportunity to volunteer at a child’s holiday program in Hanover Park (one of the most dangerous areas in Cape Town) to help keep the kids busy with fun educational activities so they weren’t bored and getting themselves in trouble. The holiday program looked a lot like a VBS at home where we all played games, did crafts, had people come talk, sang, danced and ate a lot of food!! It was so fun getting to know the kids and hearing them shout “NO” to drugs and gangs.
So yeah, my ministry is quite a lot different than my ministry in both Thailand and Cambodia and completely different than anything I have been use to. But, it has been so cool seeing God use my team and I in ways that we never thought He would.
Please continue to keep my team and I in your prayers as we continue our time here in South Africa and all have been experiencing home sickness.
xoxo,
Bethany
