I’ve gained somewhere from five to ten pounds this month
because I’ve been eating two dinners for the last half of the month: one at our
house and one at house number three. Mamma Dorris calls me her son and always
feeds me what she is giving her children for dinner. I politely ask her to only
give me a little bit, and then she comes back from the kitchen with an amount
that was even bigger than the day before. Nomfundo, Bridget, and Sipiwea are
some of the awesome kids that live there, but I’ve bonded with Fortunate the
most this month. At eight years old, she is about the age of my little brother
back in the States. Since about our fourth day at Michael’s Children’s Village
(MCV), she comes home after school every day around 2:30PM and immediately
heads to house number two where we are staying. If she doesn’t see me right
away, she’s asking anyone and everyone where Jochem, or Gumgum is. Gumgum is a
nickname the kids here at MCV have given me. I have no idea how it started or
who started it, but the name seemed to stick! She always wants to hang out with
me and play, even if that means that I sit around and watch her and the other
kids play. If we were gone for the day and I didn’t see her, she would angrily
ask me where I was and why I couldn’t play!
(Fortunate and I)
(Mamma Dorris and I)
It was both difficult and emotional to begin to leave MCV.
The children and our team bonded so well and we grew so close to them during
the month. We knew all their names, what they liked to play, and what they
liked and didn’t like to eat. The house mammas and papas enjoyed that we would
keep their children occupied once in a while so that they didn’t have to deal
with them. We loved to talk with the mommas and papas about their lives and
their past and share in talking about experiences.
Up the hill at house number five were Johnny and Bex from
New Zealand. They were in their very early thirties, so only a couple of years
older than us, but they brought such wisdom and maturity. Johnny and Bex were
able to pour into us so much during this month. The guys’ night at the dam was
one of my favorites, where we just sat, cooked out, and talked for hours into
the night. Johnny also had the pleasure of transporting us everywhere this
month which was such a blessing. This couple also blessed us with their talks
and life experiences when they had dinner at our house a few times. Also, their
presence during our weekly bible study was awesome, as they always had
something positive to contribute.
(the boys and Johnny)
I eagerly share some of the highlights during my week here
in South Africa:
______________________________________________________________________
@ MCV:
The first week of our time here was spent at MCV with the
children. They were off from school that week as they had just written their
exams. We had a blast playing and learning with them. We spent countless hours
the other three weeks with them as well as they were always down to play a game
or watch a movie.
We held a weekly children’s church for the children here. It
was a time devoted to singing, dancing, and learning a Bible story. We would
always try to teach the children a new song. One of us would then preach the
“sermon,” and we would wrap it up with a verse to memorize. I feel like this
really helped the children grow in Christ. It was definitely a challenge to get
them to pay attention for the first couple minutes, but after that they would
want to learn what we were teaching.
We had a weekly Bible study for our team, Johnny and Bex,
and the house mommas and papas. It was a really cool time of fellowship and
worship, as well as an opportunity to share what had happened in the last week.
The guys organized the tool shed and the girls organized the
donation room.
IRIS ministries and MCV was given a huge chunk of land
across the street some time ago. We picked up trash there as it had become a
regular dumping spot for some of the locals. Mark and I put together some
heavy-duty signs that make it clear that trespassing or dumping is not allowed
there as it was becoming a problem.
Fire-fighting was an unknown and unseen talent we had! Read about it if you haven’t yet.
@ Backdoor (15 minute drive from MCV)
Helping with the daily 3PM feeding program. We would give
both Bible and practical stories to the crowds that would be 50+ people. We
also assisted with serving the food to the people and holding the babies so
that the mothers could receive food.
(Helping serve @ Backdoor)
House visits with Pastor Jeffrey. Hopefully you had the
chance to read my blog about the blind people I prophesied and encountered. We
saw wounds heal and Africans come to God during these walks. I also had the honor and priviledge of having a baby named after me! Check it out HERE.
(Pastor Jeffrey and I)
We assisted Florence, the preschool teacher at Village of
Hope. We helped her with lessons and entertaining the children. She was often
overwhelmed and exhausted so we were happy to help her with this chore of
keeping the children occupied.
(Backdoor preschool)
In my previous blog, I talked about Pastor Vance and Will
donating 20 bicycles to pastors here in the community. Our teams actually
assembled and tuned the bikes for the pastors to ensure that they would last as
long as they were intended to. It was hard work to get the job done before we
deadline of us leaving, but everything was completed
We went to the local church here in Backdoor every Sunday we
were here. It was awesome to be a part of their service every Sunday and to
share and be part of the congregation. It was also a treat to be able to go up
to Nelspruit to go to the church there as well. That was something I wrote
about earlier that you can check out HERE.
(Pastor Vance, Will, Wives, and us)
@ White River (15 minutes from MCV and Backdoor)
We ATL’ed (Ask the Lord) it up here in downtown White River.
I have a passion for meeting new people so I love it when God uses me on these walks.
We would hand out sodas and waters and try to get to know people and hear their
stories.
On our free days we would mostly go to a restaurant called
Wimpy to use their free wifi. We really got to know a majority of the servers
there and developed good relationships with them. God definitely used us to be
a light at Wimpy as we were able to share what we were doing and why God had
called us to this trip.
@ Kruger National Park (30 minutes from MCV)
A super big thank you to Johnny who was able to get us a
super-duper deal and we were able to afford a day trip to Kruger. God’s
creation and creations is AMAZING! I hope that you were able to check out my
other pictures of Kruger on my facebook page. The entire time in the park was a
time where we could check out the animals and give thanks to God for his
creation.
(Entrance of Kruger Park) (An elephant- if you didn’t notice it)
_______________________________________________________________________
I’m writing this while it’s my last day here at MCV.
Tomorrow morning will be the last time I see the children here, and there’s no
doubt that many of them will be in tears as they head off to school. God has
definitely blessed the time we have spent here and we were poured into by
Johnny and Bex just as much as we poured into the children and others during
our time here. I’ve learned a lot here in South Africa and had many diverse
experiences here.
Thank you God for an amazing month here filled with joy and
laughter. Thank you for the relationships that I have developed. Thank you for
the people that I have been able to meet from so many different walks of life.
Thank you for filling me. Thank you for team Fierce Pursuit. Thank you for team
J159 and how we could bond and really be vulnerable with each other this month
and grow closer together. The list could go on and on….
Tomorrow we head to Nelspruit where we will debrief with the
squad from October 29th until November 1st. Our squad
coaches will join us and we will together have times to share experiences and
stories. We will be corporately traveling to Swaziland after debrief.
I very much appreciate you reading this, and your comments,
messages, thoughts, and prayers!
(My team and I- October 29, 2012 last day @ MCV)
