Hi Friends!
Long time no talk! Our month in Pretoria, South Africa is already almost over and I am so sorry I haven’t updated you all yet! This month has been completely different than others and I can’t wait to share.
On New Years Eve, we were in the midst of a 36 hour travel day and our logistics team was able to coordinate with Ericka from Beam Africa for us to stay with them for the night before our full day of travel to Lesotho began. Their grounds were BEAUTIFUL, so peaceful, and an opportune place to have some crazy good quiet time with Jesus. Needless to say, when my team and I found out we would be partnering with Beam Africa for this month, we were PUMPED.
Beam Africa is “focused on facilitating integrated, sustainable community development programs for disenfranchised communities.”. Ericka is the boss lady around here and she is the sweetest! Last month she hosted a Parent Vision Trip and when we got here, she was hosting a debrief.
A lot of our ministry here really just looks like helping her recover from her busy month. She still has work to do throughout the day to keep her ministry running, so we’ve been helping her with cleaning and organizing donations left by the parents and their racers.
Each day I wake up, get in the word, and eat a delicious breakfast of rice cakes and avocado. This month we are cooking for ourselves and we even have an oven! This means we get to cook healthy meals! A far cry from our typical PB&J for lunch followed by carb on carb on carb for dinner!
A lot of times, ministry works like your average 9-5. But here, we have our mornings free to really pursue the Lord.
Never in my life would I thought that I would get to be a part of something so cool, but the last half of our day is filled with…FLAMINGO REHABILITATION!
South Africa has been experiencing a major draught. Because of this, a dam in the city of Kimberly has not been able to pump water through. This dam, which covers 400 hectares, is one of the 4 flamingo breeding sites. With no water, the adult Flamingos left to go in search of it. They essentially left their babies to die. Thankfully, a man here in Pretoria, whose house is home to hundreds of birds already, was able to rescue over 900 birds.
We had the amazing opportunity to be able to help out at the Flamingo Project by making food and even FEEDING the flamingos! It honestly has been one of the greatest things I’ve ever done.
Since we started, the flamingos have grown so much that everyone of them is now strong enough to be able to feed on their own vs the volunteers feeding them from syringes. They will soon be able to return to Kimberly Park!
I so wish I could show you all pictures, but unfortunately we are unable to post pictures until May. I will update you as soon as I can.
It’s funny, because I have always loved animals and I selfishly prayed that I would be able to work with animals at some point during the race. He 100% gave me the desires of my heart and worked it out for His Kingdom as well.
Not only have we been helping these sweet baby Flamingos, but we have also been helping out the people in charge. Their names are Brenden and Megan. Brenden already lives on the property and Megan is there so much that they actually gave her to a room to stay in. When the project first started, there were tons of volunteers, but as the novelty wore off, volunteers stopped coming. When the flamingos were young they got fed SEVERAL times a day so, to Megan and Brenden, it seemed like as soon as they got finished feeding all the birds, it was already time for the next feeding.
We were able to relieve them a bit and give them some much needed rest. As we got more comfortable, we were able to facilitate training for new volunteers so the burden wasn’t always on the leaders shoulders.
The greatest thing about this month wasn’t that we got to feed baby flamingos, although that was pretty dang cool. But it was that, even while we’re doing “flamingo ministry”, God put so many compassionate people in our path too.
Thank you Lord for the rest you gave us this month. Thank you that there were so many opportunities to get in your presence and stay there. Thank you that you gave me a new revelation of your love for the World through these baby flamingos. Thank you for the amazing people you put in our path who I pray are life long friends. Thank you for their hearts for your creation and their compassion. Thank you for an amazing host like Ericka whose home was Holy Ground. I pray that you continue to bless Megan and Brenden as well as Ericka and the rest of the Beam Africa team. Would you bring them peace and safety and continue to pour out your love on them. In Jesus Name, Amen.
