Wow. I love Africa. It's my favorite continent.
We spent three days traveling from Swazi to Cape Town. The drive down the coast was beautiful. We stayed one night in Durban and two in Port Elizabeth. Just over a week ago, we arrived in Cape Town.
Our contact Malcolm is amazing. He has such a passion for his ministry "New Chapter" and for the men, women, and kids near the Mitchells Plain area of Cape Town, an area where people are quickly losing their lives to drugs. Malcolm runs a community center known as Phumlani and nutrition center where he hopes to see kids learn and grow in an healthy environment, and give their lives to Christ. Most of the girls are working there this month.
There are 4 of us who are spending our month in Rehab! I wish I could express in words how amazing it really is to spend every day with these men and women. Many of them have been addicted to drugs for over 10 years. They've forgotten who they are, come from very broken homes, some left parents behind and others left sons and daughters. They have come to Camp Joy (the rehab center) because they want to change their lives. To stand in the center every morning and evening worshiping the Lord with these men and women has been one of the greatest parts of the past 11 months, and its only been one week. I can only imagine what God is going to do in their lives over the next 3 weeks. We only see the men in big group settings, but we get to spend the entire day with the women. To hear their stories is heartbreaking, but to see the hunger and thirst for Jesus is remarkable.
Last week they asked us to watch a movie with them. One of the girls (I'll call her Jane :)) told me she wanted to watch "How Great is Our God." I was a little confused because the first thing that came to my mind was the song, not a movie. A few minutes later she handed me the case to one of Louie Giglio's passion talks. I was surprised and excited that this is what she wanted to watch. When it was over, Jane had tears in her eyes. She said, "I've watched this movie so many times and I cry every time." Jane wants a relationship with Jesus, but she says she wants to make sure before she make such a serious commitment because she doesn't want to disappoint God. She knows if she chooses to follow Christ, her life will need to look very different when she goes back home.
We have devotions/worship every morning and evening, watch movies, talk a lot!, play cards and other games, have life skills class, and we are planning to start a bible study with the girls this week!
Hopefully I'll be able to share more stories soon. A few fun facts about South Africa–internet has never been so difficult to find, and once you find it, it rarely works. Everyone has an awesome accent that sounds something like a mix between Australia and Minnesota. You can see the most beautiful beach, mountains, and city all from one place. It's COLD! Really cold. But after so many hot months, it's quite refreshing!!
Please pray for the people at Camp Joy. For the strength to stay, for joy to be found, for love to abound, and for grace to be received.
Love you all 🙂
