Goodbye: Part 2: SonrisaGoodbye: Part 2: Sonrisa
Elsie, a beautiful, amazing, loving, sweet, pure, wonderful woman of God. Elsie is my friend and the cleaner at the hostel I was living in. As my self and some of my wonderful brothers and sisters got to know Elsie we found that she had always felt invisible and unloved. An absolute lie we began to pour into her and bring freedom to her by telling her the truth. That she was a chosen woman who was loved and adored. Not just by us but by God more importantly.
During our final weekend in Muizenburg Amanda, Marian and I were blessed to take Elsie to a conference at Hillsong Church called Sisterhood. Sisterhood was all about the women, and fully served by the men of the church. From being served banana bread in line ups, to ice cream at the end, and massages (which sadly I missed). The men just served, which as a woman was amazing to see and certainly made the day more special.
The conference included plenty of worship, and a message about being worthy and so precious to God as a woman. How as women there is a purpose that is so great, but that we should walk into. It was simply amazing how God orchastrated words to come from the pulpit to Elsie's ears to confirm exactly what we had been telling her. Awesome right!
Following the conference we headed back home to share a lunch/diner with her and were just so blessed to be able to server her and take care of her. After a month of her cleaning after us and just living in such a spirit of gentleness it was a joy to show her our appreciation.
Our last day in Muizenburg saying our goodbyes to friends we had made throughout the month had been saddening to say the least. However as I spoke with Elsie one last time, my heart was breaking, and wishing I could stay one more day. Or even maybe another week.
Hearing her heart, and feeling her love for our team touched my heart. Which made saying goodbye harder than it already is. However being able to tell her how much we love her and that how one day I will come back for another visit brought a smile to both our faces and with one more bear hug we said goodbye.
Elsie, a beautiful, amazing, loving, sweet, pure, wonderful woman of God. Elsie is my friend and the cleaner at the hostel I was living in. As my self and some of my wonderful brothers and sisters got to know Elsie we found that she had always felt invisible and unloved. An absolute lie we began to pour into her and bring freedom to her by telling her the truth. That she was a chosen woman who was loved and adored. Not just by us but by God more importantly.
During our final weekend in Muizenburg Amanda, Marian and I were blessed to take Elsie to a conference at Hillsong Church called Sisterhood. Sisterhood was all about the women, and fully served by the men of the church. From being served banana bread in line ups, to ice cream at the end, and massages (which sadly I missed). The men just served, which as a woman was amazing to see and certainly made the day more special.
The conference included plenty of worship, and a message about being worthy and so precious to God as a woman. How as women there is a purpose that is so great, but that we should walk into. It was simply amazing how God orchastrated words to come from the pulpit to Elsie's ears to confirm exactly what we had been telling her. Awesome right!
Following the conference we headed back home to share a lunch/diner with her and were just so blessed to be able to server her and take care of her. After a month of her cleaning after us and just living in such a spirit of gentleness it was a joy to show her our appreciation.
Our last day in Muizenburg saying our goodbyes to friends we had made throughout the month had been saddening to say the least. However as I spoke with Elsie one last time, my heart was breaking, and wishing I could stay one more day. Or even maybe another week.
Hearing her heart, and feeling her love for our team touched my heart. Which made saying goodbye harder than it already is. However being able to tell her how much we love her and that how one day I will come back for another visit brought a smile to both our faces and with one more bear hug we said goodbye.
