So month one is over. One month in Johannesburg filled with community outreach, manual labor, teaching, Bible studies, experiencing African worship services, playing with baby lions, and even a trip to Cape Town. One month where the community I have been so blessed with was grown and stretched in countless ways. One month in which Jesus was so present in both my life as well as the ministry we did with Impact Africa four days a week. I can’t believe it’s over and am so grateful for everyone at Impact who poured into me in countless ways as well as put me out of my comfort zone in ways that I never thought I would be able to handle. But I handled it all and grew because of it. If all this happened in month one, I can’t even imagine what months 2-11 will look like.
The type of work I was involved in this past August includes:
Impact Kids: We would go to the preschool in Diepsloot every Friday and help the teachers out. There were a few of us assigned to each class, and two friends and I were in the Zebras – ages 2-3. The classes get pretty chaotic so the teachers need all the help they can get. We would be at this school from around 9 am until 1 pm. During this time, we played with the kids at recess, put on a program for them that involved lots of singing and dancing, and, in my case, helped with crafts in the classroom.
Jabulani Kids: This was a kids program we put on in Diepsloot every Friday afternoon. My team was partnered with one other and we did it in two different areas of Diepsloot. It involved singing, dancing, games, a Bible story, and treats at the end. This was for sure one of my favorite things we did this month as the kids were so extremely joyful and their love for Jesus was so apparent.
Impact Students: This was my absolute favorite ministry, even though my team only got to do it a few times. We went to one of the primary schools on Thursday afternoons and had a Bible study for girls between the age of 14 and 18. The best part about this was that it was after school, so all the girls who came to it came because they wanted to, not because they had to. Esther and Irma (two of my friends from my team) came up with a really awesome lesson on the story of the Prodigal Son. They tied it to comparison, which sadly is something most adolescent girls struggle with. This lesson led to so many awesome conversations with the girls at the school and I absolutely loved connecting with them. I think youth ministry may be a newly forming passion I have. In addition to this, Hannah and I taught a couple lessons at another school about identity and how it comes from God alone and not things of this world. I really hope I get more opportunities to do ministry like this.
Community Outreach: We did community outreach most days. Basically we would go around Diepsloot and just meet people and talk to them. Sometimes we helped with things too. I helped paint a house, do dishes, and do laundry, among other things. A lot of people living in Diepsloot are jobless and have come from surrounding countries to try to find work. It was super eye-opening to hear people’s stories and I loved getting to pray with them and give them encouragement. Many people that we met in Diepsloot have an extremely deep faith, and it was incredible and inspiring to see how people living in such difficult circumstances are able to surrender it all to Christ and trust in Him. It made me realize how much deeper I can go in my trust of God.
Impact Baby Rescue: This is a ministry I did not get to be involved with much. Two girls on my squad have experience in the medical field, so they got to go help in the baby home every Wednesday. Impact is very careful about who they let into the baby home. They only want people near the babies who are experienced in that field so they get the best care possible. BUT my team and I did get to go to a clinic one day and see how Impact counsels new mothers. I really appreciate how Impact is so intentional about who gets to do this particular ministry.
In addition to all these incredible experiences, we also had classes on a variety of topics at the Impact headquarters every Monday. My favorite class was about world religions and building bridges between different religions. Unfortunately, much of Western culture has a very negative view of Islam because of how it is portrayed in the media. We actually got to go visit a mosque and talk to a man who worked there and ask him questions about his religion while he was able to ask us about ours. It was a really cool moment. Jesus loves. And a lot of times our culture forgets that. No one will ever come to know the healing power of Jesus through judgment and hate. It is by building friendships and loving people EXACTLY as they are that they will come to know Jesus.
We had our last day of ministry on Wednesday, and yesterday (Thursday) we took a bus up to Nelspruit, a city just outside of Kruger National Park – known for its safaris (!!!). We will be staying at a hostel here for debrief for ten days before we go up to Zimbabwe on September 16th. During these next ten days, all the teams from our squad will come back together at this hostel and debrief how the last month went as well as get some more training. All of our squad leaders, coaches, and our squad mentor are here for this time as well. I am super excited to be back with everyone and have these ten days to rest before month two because I am honestly pretty drained after Joburg.
Yesterday, we found out where we will be in Zimbabwe, and I am PUMPED. This month, all seven of the teams will be at a different location in Zim. My team will be staying at Victoria Falls in northern Zimbabwe working with Youth for Christ, an organization that has lots of different bases throughout Africa. Check them out at https://yfci.org. Prayers are appreciated this week as well as during our travel up to Zimbabwe on the 16th.
God Bless you all 🙂
P.S. – I have been trying to add photos to my blogs but the WiFi I have had hasn’t been strong enough to upload them :/
