We’ve been here in Pretoria for about 3 weeks now, and if I tried explaining everything that’s happened, and what God has been doing in my head this would just be a jumbled mess blog. I’ve said in past blogs that I’d share about what the Lord has being doing in me, but honestly putting it all together in a way that would make sense to read is a lot harder than I thought. So this blog will just be an update on what ministry has looked like and what’s been happening with the team.
The ministry we have partnered with this month is Beam Africa Network and what a blessing it has been. At training camp they prepare you for the worst with tenting, sleeping on air mattresses, bucket showers and having no control over what you eat. We honestly didn’t know exactly what to expect because none of us could find a whole lot of information on the ministry before we got here. Man, we are SPOILED this month. We have a house to stay in, beds, hot water for showers, and a kitchen that we can use to cook what we’d like.
Above: The Team on the day we arrived
Although those things are all blessings, I think our team would agree that the biggest blessing for us has been our ministry hosts. Beam Africa Network is run by a couple here in South Africa and they are a power house. Hearing their story about how God has worked in their life, their unrelenting faith that God would provide for them and the testimonies of how God impacted the local communities has been unbelievable. One thing they have really adamant on is that they are not going into these communities to “save” or be the reason things change. They go with the mindset of meeting with community leaders to see what needs the community has and seeing how they can partner with them to make a lasting impact in the communities. One way that they do this is by putting on Life Skill classes for people in the community. At the class people can come and learn different life skills that then they can take and get jobs with.
A typical week for us looks like doing ministry Monday-Friday and having weekends off. During our time here, ministry with them has looked a little different. Originally we were supposed to be helping with a series of life skills classes, but the center where the classes were to take place double-booked and they aren’t able to have a place for the classes till after we leave South Africa. Although this was disappointing, maybe God had a reason for that. In the area we are staying the security has been a real issue for those living there. So a lot of our daily ministry has been physical labor around the property to make improvements for security as well as just improving the property. Taking down fences, digging holes for fence poles, putting up new fences, helping place razor-wire, moving shrubs to new places, chopping down trees, and taking down old stalls are just some of the tasks we have done. Even though it has been a lot of hard work it’s been a blast. It’s really given us time to bond as a team and given me a lot of time to personally spend time with the Father. It’s also been a learning process to understand that helping build God’s Kingdom isn’t just going out and evangelizing in the streets and playing with kids or whatever else people think about when they think of missions trips.
Yesterday we had the opportunity to go out into community called Maubane. There we got to work with local volunteers that every Friday put on a VBS style program for kids in the community. These local volunteers are amazing to watch. Maubane is a place where severe poverty is very evident and these people come and volunteer to help make a difference for the kids. They make it possible for them to hear about Jesus, learn English, play games and get some food. Walking into a building with 60 kids who have so little, but still they are dancing around and singing “Jesus is the only one who can change your life” was a moment I’ll never forget. We got the chance to help teach English to the kids, help cook, tell Bible stories, and of course, play soccer with the kids. One thing that I’ve taken from this experience so far is just looking at all God has done in these places prior to us getting here, what He is currently doing while were here, and looking forward to all He will do after we are long gone. I just feel extremely lucky to be apart of it.
Above: The kids reading a story in English
If you could keep our ministry hosts in your prayers I know they would greatly appreciate it. Even though it has worked out, the life skills classes being cancelled has put a lot of stress on them to reschedule and there was ALOT of planning that went into them before they were cancelled. On top of that one afternoon we came back to the house and a water pipe had burst and their office had rivers of water running down from the ceiling onto all of their files, printers and everything else in there. So one of our days of work was tearing out the old ceiling so they could replace it. I know that prayers for safety over them and the property would be appreciated.
Each weekend our team has an “Adventure Day” and a Sabbath. Both have been really good and Adventure Days have mainly been going to a local mall to sit in a coffee shop to get access to WiFi, or see a movie like the Lion King. Last weekend we did do something a little different and went on a safari, which was awesome!
Above: Three Giraffes we saw
Thank you for reading and as always feel free to reach out with your own prayer requests or with any questions you may have!
-God Bless
