It’s been a little over one week since we left America, and that we’ve been here in South Africa. So much has happened in a week it feels like we’ve been here for at least a month already.
I didn’t really know what to expect when leaving home. I knew the travel days would be long and a journey in themselves, which they have been. I knew 11 months would include experiencing many different cultures and conditions I have never seen before. I knew that there would be challenges and uncomfortable things that would cause us to grow, but I didn’t know exactly what that would look like. It’s only week one into month one, and even though it has been just a taste of the 11 month, it feels like so much has already happened. I still don’t know what all will happen in the time to come, but from what I’ve experienced so far I can say– The Lord is at work.
Our ministry hosts, Ivan and Bronwyn, have been so gracious and welcoming. We have felt so genuinely cared for as they want us to grow and learn from them, while they too will learn and grow from us. They’ve taught us how to play Chinese dominos. They’ve encouraged our hearts and been pouring into us with wisdom. We’ve worshiped with them, we’ve prayed with them, we’ve served with them, and we’ve been brought into their ministry with open arms.
The ministry we are working with is called Revelation Ministry. It is centered and located within the town called Lavender Hill. Here you will see little kids strolling around, some who are not yet in school and some who do not go to school anymore. You’ll see kids dressed up in their school uniform hanging out outside during their breaks, and then you will see many outside the gates of the school perimeter either walking around or sitting by the street. The area is surrounded by huge mountains that can be seen at a distance. But each place, whether a school or a house there will be a gate.
When we drive into the location, you can rest assured that Ivan and Bronwyn will be waving and saying hello to the people they pass by. It’s amazing to see how many people they know. “Môre Pastor”, the people will say. Everyone calls them “pastor”. We on the other hand are called “whities”. With our day one sunburns, we are more red than anything…..
We have done such a large variety of ministry in this first week. It has ranged from feeding in the community, playing with children in the after school program on the church grounds and even on our free time there, visiting with the elderly, gardening, and door to door ministry. It has been all new things for me, but at the same time really awesome to be able to step out, grow and learn.
It has been such a struggle to be able to write down everything I want to say. There is so much I want to share. With that being said I’ll give you a little glance at some things I have learned so far into week 1 of ministry:
1: The children love piggy back rides. We found that out quick. If you go to set one kid down for a break, you’ll have another one on you within seconds telling you to run; or, you’ll have multiple kids on you at once.
2:The houses we went to do door to door ministry at we people who once were squatters and lived in shacks, but now we’re living in homes. Many of these people have waited 20-30 years for a home. Going into their houses you could tell they were very proud of their home and what they had. However, you couldn’t help but feel a deep and sad presence that these homes still had.
3: I learned it’s important to take the plastic off the trees when gardening, cut your nails before weeding and some weeds have spurs on them that will get you if you aren’t careful. We have two little pod sections of the greenery that we planted and will take care of as we are here. Ivan assured us that as the year goes on, the growth of these trees, specifically, will represent our growth on the race.
4: I have learned so much about the girls on my team, as we’ve been able to bond and grow and encourage each other through this week. We’ve talked about community, and it has been a blessing to do experience such community as we learn to love and serve each other as we are loving and serving others as well.
You can check out Revelation Ministry’s website at: http://www.revelationministries.co.za/
