We arrived in Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa on October 6th after a 29-hour travel day. That wasn’t too bad! After a month of sleeping in a tent full of black dirt and giant spiders… I must say… it was a huge relief to see a beach. We got to our living site and found out it is a big “camp ground” where camps come through throughout the year. Don’t be fooled by the camp part though…. There are buildings… with beds, showers, and a little kitchen! Seriously a gift from above! We do move often though because if a full camp comes in, we have to move rooms. I’m currently in a daycare across the street for the weekend. The only down part of that is not being able to buy multiple days of food at a time (we cook for ourselves this month), and also having to pack up your life all the time. Welcome to the World Race!
Before speaking about ministry, I wanted to talk a little about terms you may see in posts this month. South Africa’s culture is quite different than the State’s in terms of race. In my eyes, South Africa is still segregated in some ways, and the terms the locals use would not be seen as okay in the States. I’m diving into the culture and loving on everyone because that’s what we are called to do. If I use the term “black” in this post, it is not meant to be degrading, it is simply the terms of this culture. Thank you for understanding and reading with an open heart!
So, now to ministry! I LOVE OUR MINISTRY THIS MONTH! We are working with Ithemba (E-Tem-Bah) school this month. It is a school in a low income part of town, and predominately a black neighborhood. We leave our host site at 7:30 am to walk to the school by 8 am. It is so shocking to me to start off our walk on the side of town we live in which is very westernized … and then to slowly start seeing many small metal shacks that large families live in. We walk through this neighborhood each morning, passing all of the adults going to work, and the children going to school. It is a little odd to them I suppose seeing a group of 7 white people walking down the street saying hello to each person who passes by, but I love seeing the same people each morning.
In the morning, Ithemba school is filled with pre-school kids ages 3-6. Before class duties include singing with the kids and giving bible verse, as well as 2 people serving up oats and milk in the kitchen. We head off to our assigned classes where we help the teacher with anything they need. The children are learning 3 languages which is crazy to me! Their home language is Closa (language full of tongue clicks that I sound super funny trying to talk), while they learn most of everything in Africans ( 1 of the 11 languages in South Africa) because the primary school they will go to after pre-school is taught in Africans. They also learn English and eventually have classes over it too. I can’t imagine having to learn my days of the week and numbers in 3 different languages at that age. My kids are so sweet to me and welcome me with a “Gooood morning Teacher!!” each morning! I have the oldest (5-6 yr old) kids which I enjoy because I am able to help them more with school work since they know a little bit of English.
A snack break is next, which runs into the play break. Most days we go out to the playground with the kids which is SUPER tiring. They don’t have personal bubbles, but I am used to that after 2 months in Africa. I have secretly turned into a physical touch person because 1. Kids in Africa and 2. Mariah my teammate who is a very physical touch person. One aspect of this culture that was very shocking to me was the fact that the children are very physical and aggressive with each other. Most of the time they are just play fighting, but this has been a trend in the past three months.
During our lunch break, my team and I have been decorating brown paper bags for the Christmas Picnic. Every year, the school has a Picnic that is Christmas themed (even tho its not Christmas yet haha) where each student gets a little gift. So, we have been drawing trees and presents on 220 big brown paper bags… plus glitter! GLITTER IS EVERYWHERE.
At two, the littles go home and the big kids get off of school! YAY! The big kids range from ages 6- 16 and come from their own school to Ithemba for after-care. Here, they get help with their homework and also have a place to have someone make sure they get it done too. I also have my own classroom here so I get to pour into the same kids each day. I have about 12 kids from grade 4 to 8. They all go to a private school because their parents are able to afford it. This also means better teachers. I noticed that my students didn’t really need any help with their homework, but my teammates students’ did. I asked my oldest student about this and he explained that if you go to private school, you have good teachers. If you can’t afford it and have to go to the public school, you have a much lower chance of having a good education. That hurt my heart.
I love the age group of my kids! I have discovered that I have a huge heart for teenagers. I believe that this is because my teenager years were times when I really needed an older person to pour into my life. After everyone finishes their homework, we do a bible study. We went through Jonah first (blog coming soon about how that went!), and we are starting Philippians next! I never thought that God would use me to lead a bible study… but He is filling be up with confidence!
I adore these kids already… and it physically hurts my heart at the thought of leaving them.
At first, I didn’t understand the idea of doing mission work at a Christian school. They’re all Christian right!? Right… but these kids… I wish you could all see and hear what they go through. Not only that, but I wish you could see their Joy, their passion for God, and their determination. They pour into my soul as I pour out mine to them. They open their ears to me as I step out in teaching my first bible study as a Christian. They ask me super deep and thought provoking questions that I have to say uh.. I don’t know but I will find that for you. Most of all, these kids love me for ME.
So this is just a little peek into our ministry at Ithemba this month! We have been at the school for two weeks already and will be leaving around Novemeber 5th. Please pray for this awesome ministry and all of the kids and teachers!
For Photos please check my Facebook page! I tried uploading here but it didn’t work.
