We finally made it!
My team and I arrived in Bloemfontein, South Africa on July 3 around 11pm here. We flew from Atlanta, Georgia to Chicago, Illinois. From Chicago to Dubai and finally Dubai to Johannesburg. We missed the 10am bus from Joburg to Bloemfontein so we waited in the chilly winter weather at the bus station until 6pm. Our 5 hour bus ride took us to the wonderful Eden ministry, which is a halfway house for mentally challenged individuals. There are about 100 people living here with their own rooms, there’s a courtyard, garden, classrooms, creative rooms, and church building.
bus station in Joburg, South Africa
The missionaries here (Ralph, his wife, and kids) love each and every person like their own family. My team and I have already created such intimacy. Praise God. He is a good good Father to us. We are his daughters earnestly seeking His face and he is definitely showing up.
My job here as a volunteer is to work in the kitchen. So far I have shredded hundreds of carrots, chopped potatoes, and created a big salad. The great part about working in the kitchen is that I get to sing hymns and Jesus-loving songs. Most of the people here speak English and love to sing with me! Two ladies in particular are super close to my heart. Althea and Elma.
Althea used to live in Cape Town on the streets struggling with heavy drugs. She wanted her life to change for the better so she finally ended up coming to this ministry. She works from 4:30am until around 8pm every day cooking for all the residents. She tells me she loves Jesus and is so thankful for Him in her life. It brings such joy to my heart to see her smile and sing in the kitchen.
Elma is a resident who loves Jesus as well. She is a 56-year old woman who shreds carrots with me every day. She said she loves to sing Amazing Grace because she sings it from her heart. Her son was paralyzed from the waist down when he was 11, but the Lord has healed him in so many ways that Elma says she cannot help but thank Jesus every day. “Praise God, Praise God, Praise God, Praise God” (in the Amazing Grace tune).
As I was sitting in a cold room next to hundreds of other rooms with handicapped adults- God whispered to me. He loves them the same. If Jesus were physically here he would embrace each one of them with no hesitation. It may be hard to communicate with people who sometimes cannot express any words back but that’s ok! Smile and love on them anyway! These people understand love languages more than I can know.
I have been reading through 1 John 1-4 thus far:
“AND THIS IS HIS COMMAND:
To believe in the name of His son Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey His commands lives in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: we know it by the Spirit he gave us.”
1 John 3:23-24
The Sonflowers’ jobs:
Laura (Lilly)- organizing the clinic and helping with distributing the medicine
Olivia (Rose)- working in the daycare (called Crische) and playing with the children that are there because of their parents living here
Christi – leading the workshop for the men there. They have been constructing book shelves and painting them!
Amanda (Sunflower)- leading the women in necklace making. This ministry actually sells their creations!
Jenny (Daisy)- helping in the kitchen by shredding many carrots and doing whatever they ask of me
Melissa (Orchid)- helping in the office. She is learning how all the residents are taken care of.
Ralph and Rhoda with the Sonflowers’ team!
All throughout the day our goal is to simply love. We also are assigned each Sunday to preach for an hour, and each morning to give a 5 minute devotional. Ralph and Rhoda are the real super stars—They live for this. Jesus radically transformed their lives to lay it down for these people.
amazing praise:
well, in the first few days it was hard to sleep in the building. I had felt an evil spirit like never before and it really scared me. I had to pray for safety, which I sadly do not do too often. I could feel the weight of an attack approaching each night in my nightmares and with all the creepy sounds at night. The praise is that our team prays for God’s protection each night in our hallway, and we do not allow any evil forces within our premises. I haven’t had a nightmare since. I can feel the safety. There is no more need to sneak into one of my teammate’s bed at night (hehe). Praise da Lord.
