Oh man, South Africa has absolutely kicked my butt!! Not just mentally and spiritually, but physically as well. This month has been an incredible time of growth for my team and I. Where do I even begin to describe what we’ve doing this month? It’s been a lot of physical labor and cleaning up around the property with some kids ministry sprinkled in every once in a while. If I’m being honest it’s been completely different than what I had expected this month. But as different as it has been, I have seen God move and work in so many ways already.
When we first started with our ministry host BEAM Africa, we were told that we were going to be focusing on helping with their life classes. Life classes are where BEAM teaches basic skills, English, business, and more to the people in their community. But as we continued past the first week, plans changed as they usually tend to. The life classes ended up being cancelled because of… well, life. We were then told our ministry for this month was going to be focusing on manual labor through demolition, planting, cleaning, building, upgrading security, and more.
At first we were all a bit disappointed. Hard manual labor wasn’t exactly what we thought we would be doing for the next 30 days. But then, quickly and wonderfully as He does, God spoke to each one of us. He said to me one day as we were working, “This is the growth I have planned for you in this month. This is what I want you to do”. And just like that, He humbles me and helps me understand His plan.
It’s so easy when you’re covered in dirt, mud, rust, sweat, and carrying heavy metal and wood poles about a half mile down and back over and over again to really feel sorry for yourself. It can be so easy to play the comparison game and take the road of thought that feels like the world is against you. But then God does something amazing. He reminds me that sometimes life doesn’t turn out exactly how I want it. That in the midst of daily life He moves and works, if you truly look for it, and has something so much better planned for you.
In the middle of all the manual labor and hard, body grueling work we had to do, God worked in and through our team. We ended up bonding and growing closer with each other because we had to learn really fast how exactly we work as a unit. There were days when all our bodies just wanted to shut down. There were days when we found more bruises, scars, cuts, and scraps than we had the day before. But we found those cuts and scraps to be what we like to call “Kingdom scars”. The reminders of the days when we endured and persevered all for the Kingdom, even though our minds and bodies said no.
“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” (Galatians 6:9)
If you endure for the Kingdom, God will bless you for it. He blessed our team in many ways. One specifically was around the third week of ministry. We found out that on Friday we were going to go help out with a kids ministry about an hour away. It was the most incredible time to get out and just play soccer, teach some Bible lessons, and cook for the kids there. Those kids were such a tiny blessing that we didn’t even know we needed. We even got to go back again the following week!
So while South Africa wasn’t exactly what I imagined it would be, it was actually greater than I could have ever thought. The six of us bonded through our scars, sweat, and bruises. We will always carry with us these Kingdom scars we found here in Pretoria.
**QUICK UPDATE I need about $2,500 by the end of September to meet my next goal and continue this amazing journey. We are leaving Pretoria this Thursday to have a 10-day debrief and then are heading to Zimbabwe. If you would like to partner with me financially you can do so by clicking the donate button at the top of the screen or through Venmo/CashApp @AverieArmbrust
