Have you ever thought to yourself, “Wow, if only I could do that over again knowing what I know now?” Well, that’s the best way I can describe this month. It feels as though this month has the freshness that month one had, yet I feel completely in my comfort zone and spiritually mature in my daily actions. I don’t think I could have asked for a better way to end this race. God has been so good to me it’s beyond using the word humbling.
Bradley and Jocelyn Barnes, our contacts, are so on fire for Jesus it’s starting wild fires in every heart they pass. They have shared their incredible testimonies, their home and major appliances with us. They even let Tess, Jason and I to borrow their kids for a night so we could see a cartoon at the theater. There is just no holding back on how far this family is willing to be used to share the Gospel and love of Christ.
The first week here we spent the mornings in a preschool helping with the kids and cleaning during their holiday time. I surprised even myself when I spent the whole week in the toddler room. I usually feel much more comfortable with the oldest kids, but the toddlers were just so much fun. They’re not big on listening or sharing, but they certainly are sweet in my arms.
The afternoons were filled with VBS like activities with some older kids who are all on holiday break until Monday. We came along side the staff of Living Hope to help keep the kids engaged. The last day of the week, Sweet Aroma performed our "Everything" skit and I shared my testimony. That day we helped in the morning, which was for the high school aged kids. It was so uplifting to share and then pray for the few kids who were there.
This past week we have spent time in different neighborhood. We are living in an area called Ocean View. The homes here remind me a lot of Nicaragua; small gated yards, with stone homes built wall to wall. However, in Masiphumelele, where President Obama recently visited, there are some stones homes, but there are a lot more one room makeshift tin and wood homes. There are small alleys off the main roads where you will find several of these makeshift homes lined up to create a small community. They all share one cooking area, meaning a place to make a fire, and bathroom, meaning a porcelain toilet.
Monday we walked the neighborhood to get the feel for people and to start meeting people who God had planned for us to talk with all week. One of the stops we made was at a neighborhood preschool called Kiddie Corner. It started as a home where the woman living there just let kids in, but it’s now an official NPO and functioning preschool. However, I’m sure all of you reading this are picturing the kind of preschool we have in the states. For the area, the facilities are not horrible; meaning the structure of the buildings is an actual sturdy room. The addition to the house for teaching is two small rooms, one with a few cribs for the small ones and another for gathering kids when outside won’t work. They even have a wooden jungle gym. While we spent time there a few other European volunteers had been placed there to help. So you would think they are really prospering with all these great blessings, but it’s just not enough. There are nearly 40 children who come there everyday
ranging from 10 months to 6 years old.
Some of the children are dropped off and then not fetched by a parent for weeks, if at all. Sure some parents use it as a daily day care, but the woman how runs this place with her daughter never know how many children will use this home as a place to sleep at night. The day we came, she was in tears on her knees in the bedroom praying for more help. A few of us helped take the older kids to the park and then some of us stayed back with the babies. We changed saturated diapers, wiped runny noses, fed the children and rocked them to sleep. I could have spent the entire day just changing diapers and wiping runny noses! Many of the three and four year olds were also in diapers, but I didn’t notice that until Friday when I was with them. There are just so many children to attend to and not enough hands to help. Please be in prayer for Kiddie Corner. Pray that help will continue to show up, and that the women working there would not feel overwhelmed.
