Well to catch everyone up, we left Swaziland last week and have been here at a place called Refilwe in South Africa ever since. Our time here has been great. The main ministry we are doing is a camp with the local kids. It is very much like a
Vacation Bible
School. We have a lesson from the bible, a craft, recreation and lots and lots of singing. Today was our second day of camp and it is all really fun.
Near Refilwe there is a squatter’s settlement. This is a place where people just decided to live. They picked up what materials they could find, built a shelter and call it home. Because this is so close, some of us wanted to go and visit the people here and share about Jesus with them. Today the first group went out, and I was one of the ones who went.
The settlement is relatively small. It covers the side of a hill, granted there is a shelter every five feet. We split up into two groups and started walking around praying and asking the Lord to bring out the people who He would have us to speak with. I simply prayed while Gina and Eric spoke with several people. Towards the end of our time there, Eric saw a small group of men sitting outside their house and he thought that he recognized them. He went over and said hi. It turned out they were not who he thought they were. However, it did give us the opportunity to sit and talk with them.
Basically, Eric asked them if they knew about Jesus and they said that they did not. Eric then was able to break down the story of Jesus for these men. While he was talking with them, another man came up. Around this time I started to have these overwhelming emotions. I started to tear up and had to turn around while they were speaking. I just kept thinking that these people have nothing. They live in these homes that most people in the states would not even keep their lawnmowers. How do you tell people about God and his provision and love when they struggle so much for everything that they have. I know that they must have many prayers that go unanswered.
Then I felt like God was saying that He is enough. They have nothing else without Him. “If they have so little now, what will there life be like if they do not know me? I am their only hope.”
After this I sucked up the tears and walked back over to where they were talking. The man who came in during the middle of the conversation began to speak. He was asking when Jesus was going to be coming to his home because he wanted to speak to him. He said that he prays everyday to Jesus. He has not had a job for over 6 months. He goes out to look and he prays and prays but still he has no job.
So I’m thinking good question, but I do not have an answer. Eric lets him know that he should continue to pray because sometimes God is trying to teach us to trust him. God was totally speaking through Eric and Gina to all of these men. It was amazing. By the end they all accepted Jesus into their lives. What a blessing it was to be there and witness the Holy Spirit moving the hearts of these men. They asked tough questions though. They asked questions that I am struggling to find answers to. I felt so selfish looking at these people in their “homes.” I have so much and still I complain. I cry and weep when I feel like something did not go my way. These people struggle everyday to just get food on the table for their families. Who am I to complain when I feel a little cold or when my car needs a new part? I am no different then any of the men and women I met today. I was simply born in a different part of the world to a different family.
I know that God made every detail of who I am so He is the one who put me where I am. I pray that over this next year that God really just reveals to me how He wants me to use what He has blessed me with. He brought me here for a reason, to share His love with his children of the world. I just pray that He gives me words that speak clearly to these people and that they know no matter what that God loves them. I pray that through their struggles they will still praise you Father! You are so good and you provide in ways that we may not know or see. I also pray that you just always remind me of this day and of how I felt. Let me never be so comfortable that I do not think of all the people who have so much less than me.
