Children running around the empty streets with ragged clothing and runny noses, stray matted dogs, women carrying babies on their backs, men talking to themselves deep in their mental illness, broken glass and garbage. Meth and Heroin are the main choice of drugs among many here in Cape Town, and gangs and violence destroy lives. It's overwhelming and seemingly hopeless. At yet then you see Malcolm, our ministry contact and Unsung Hero. You see him fighting against the darkness and destruction through the love of Jesus Christ. A beacon of hope amongst the rubble and desolation.
We are partnering with Malcolm and the New Chapter Foundation this month. Both teams here will be working at different locations for the next two weeks. Team AHAVA, my lovely, beautiful, encouraging, and strong team will spend one week working with the daycare in the morning and then the after school program as well. The following week teams will switch ministry sites and we will work with Camp Joy, a drug rehabilitation center for men and women. We have also been blessed to be able to attend Hillsong Church at 2 different locations in the area. Malcolm is also exposing us and getting us involved in many other ministry opportunities within our short but sweet time here in South Africa before we head onto Swaziland for Month 2.
Our living accommodations this month are amazing. We are staying at a Campground/Hostel and are blessed to share rooms and each have our own bed. We have running water and a toilet in our room, and a short walk to hot showers. Which is a tremendous blessing since it has been surprisingly very chilly and rainy since we've been here. It just makes me even more grateful and appreciative. We are about a ten minute walk to the beach, and our view from our host shows both the mountains and the coast.
As I write this post, we are literally only on Day 5 of our time in South Africa, yet it feels like a lifetime since I was back in the States. So much has already begun to happen with my relationship with God and my relationship with my team. Through the love from my teammates I have begun to see that my past wounds and shame have been wiped clean by the grace of God, and there is no condemnation in those years. I am worthy to be God's messenger to the world.
"Besides this, knowing the time, it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is nearly over, and the daylight is near, so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of the light." Romans 14: 11-12
P.S. Our first day here we stumbled upon a baby penguin on the beach!! Say what?!!!!
