In my second last blog I talked about my new team of seven girls – STEVE. First, they are the DREAM. These six girls have made me laugh my butt off, comforted me as I cried, let me sleep in their bed (shout out to Caitlin), and jumped on my bed to celebrated with me in the good (hey Mootoo! You’re alive!!). They’ve encouraged me, lead me, and provided me with chocolate chip cookies and evening coffee. Needless to say, they’ve served me beautifully and I love them a lot.
With that being said, team STEVE has absolutely lived up to the name. We got our name from Acts 6 and 7 where Stephen and six other men are appointed to care for the widows. While they were there they did signs and wonders and stood so strongly for the Lord that Stephen was eventually stoned (don’t worry, that one’s not a goal of ours here on the race). We wanted our team to be a team that serves the least of these, is faithful in the small, and sees signs and wonders even in the mundane parts of life.
Now to get to the real reason you clicked on this blog, the FLAMINGOS.
As you might know, South Africa has been in a severe drought for the past couple of years. As a result, many bodies of water have dried up and left the country inhabitable for the wildlife there. Some of the animals that have been most affected by the drought are the pink flamingos. The parents, after having laid their eggs, abandoned them in search for water, thus leaving the entire next generation of pink flamingos in South Africa to fend for themselves. Obviously, we couldn’t just let that happen, and so some very kind South African souls started collecting the eggs with the intention of raising them till they could be released back into the wild. They were sent to zoos, rehabilitation centres, wildlife centres, and even people’s own homes.
That’s where we came in.
We spent our month in Pretoria on the property of a very kind, flamingo-loving man! When we got there, there were about 300 grey, fuzzy, month-old flamingos. Everyday we would gut fish, blend their food, syringe-feed, and weigh the flamingos. It was AMAZING. The whole month my teammates and I would look up at each other, syringe in hand, flamingo in front, and think “is this real life?!!!”
It was funny realizing just how accurately named our team had been – Stephen fed the widows, we fed the flamingos!
My biology major-self was THRIVING. For the past couple years, as much as I adored my classes and learning about the interactions between plants and animals, I wondered if I would actually use it in real life or if I would end up in ministry. Well, here I found myself in South Africa actually using my major! WOW! And more than that, I loved every moment of it!
Even more than that though, our team found ourselves lucky enough to be working alongside who I think are the best South Africans out there – Brendon and Megan, if you read this know that you guys were the highlight of my time in South Africa and have become some of my very favourite people I’ve met on the race.
South Africa was the coolest month.
It was funny – while I spent most of my time face to beak with flamingos, I found deeper friendships with people here than anywhere else. It was cool, it felt like real life – going to work and caring for the flamingos, braaiing with friends, and talking about Jesus in the big and small ways. I think this month practically showed me that you don’t necessarily need to work in ministry to do ministry. Ministry takes place wherever we want it to – on a patio gutting fish, a kitchen blending flamingo red, or in a yard feeding growing baby flamingos. God’s not restricted by a job title, and neither should we be.
South Africa, you were so good to me. Thanks for being my favourite month so far.
My team STEVE with our new friends Helen, Megan, and Brendon!
Ps. We’re not allowed to post pictures of the flamingos until they have been released back into the wild, but don’t worry, many will come soon!
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One more thing!
My sweet teammate Caitlin (she’s the fun one with the flamingo handkerchief on; she’s also the one who took extra care of me all month) is almost done raising support for the World Race but still has a little left to go. It would mean the world to me if you could go over to her page and help her out! Feel free to give a little or a lot, it seriously all helps! You can click here to go to check out her blogs and donate.
Thank you my friends, God’s so good!
