This week has been a crazy whirlwind of a week. Honestly it feels more like a month that we’ve been on the field. Here’s a recap of what life has looked like :
On December 8th I arrived in Atlanta Georgia for our final training before hitting the field, we spent all day Saturday in seminars and meeting the squad again .
On December 10th we arrived at the airport and boarded our 13 hour flight to johanasburg South Africa , (yes a direct flight !) I had the privilege to have a window seat which meant while the people beside slept , I did not get up and walk around . That resulted to crazy kankles !
We arrived in johanasburg Monday evening at 5 pm which was really 9 am for home . So we missed all day Monday which was okay with me because it meant I could go to bed sooner , I Hadent slept on the plane whatsoever .
That evening we went to my teammates church her and her family made us an amazing diner and gave us somewhere to sleep which was such a blessing!
The next morning we were ready to catch our 18 hour bus ride to Cape Town South Africa , which started at noon and ended around 6 am . Not were we excited to get off that bus !
We met our contact John shortly after who has been amazing to us , he has opened his home to us and makes sure we feel at home . We also live with pa who is his father , and Luciano a pastor from Brazil who is learning English . It’s been a full house !
Our contacts focus is showing children their identity , because in this area most children don’t know their identity so they try to find it in the gangs .he is very passionate about going into schools doing presentations and getting to know the kids so that’s what we’ve been doing . His ministry is called new season foundation .
Friday was our first day of talking with grad 8 kids , we did a skit on identity and how things come along that try to distract us from Gods love , but that God can redeem that .that he still cares even through the difficult seasons
Then we proceeded to share our testimonies with the class which was difficult , it’s not something I’ve ever done in front of that many people . So that was stretching but also showed me new parts of my story that I didn’t realize I had .
We also realized the enormity of what our contact is doing ,when we asked these kids if they’ve ever done drugs about half the class stood .When asked if they know someone in a Gang another large amount stood .
It was sad to see what they are surrounded by , but also made me feel empowered and showed me just how important it is that they are invested in . And that they realize they are more than just kids in a Gang , but they are loved by their father and can do way better things in life than they think possible .
We also asked the classes if they would like to accept Jesus as their saviour, and one class every child stood , another about half stood . It was great praying with those kids about their futures
We went out the other night to do door to door ministry which is exactly what it’s called , you go out at night in groups of three and knock on people’s doors and see if they need prayer . That in it’s self is a huge deal because mainly bad things happen at night in this area , so it’s great to have good things happening with the youth in the area . That evening we prayed for many people and people accepted Jesus .
The moment that stands out the most to me about that night is the healings we saw . One amazing girl needed healing in her back so we prayer , and nothing happened .
So we prayed again and it was slightly better , so we prayer a third time it was getting to 100 percent but not there yet . By the fourth time she was completely healed of her back pain , she said she felt the heat in our hands and her back went back to the way it was supposed to be . I was utterly shocked that God used me for that . Still amazed.
It’s been such a cool few days , we are learning to live in community , learning to do ministry together and learning what loving others really means .It’s been stretching , amazing , and empowering .I can’t believe we are only 5 days in !
