Today was the last day of camp at Refilwe. It was an exhausting week, but we really saw the Spirit move. Yesterday, during small group discussion, the curriculum just was not working with our group. We were missing one of our translators. Because of a lack of understanding, they just weren’t paying much attention during the discussion time. They weren’t understanding the analogies we were using. I was squirming up there, and the kids could tell. I shot Sean a look of “please help me!” and he stepped up and took over the discussion. Before the Race, he was a wilderness therapy guide for troubled youth. Needless to say, he knows what to say in difficult situations.
He talked to them about being vulnerable with each other, and he assured them all that what was said in the circle, stayed in the circle. After talking and a bit of opening up (but not much), he asked if anyone needed prayer for anything. Slowly kids started raising their hands and coming to the center of the circle for prayer. Some of their prayer requests broke my heart. Because we promised them that nothing they said would leave the circle, I’m not going to give specifics. But please keep these kids and their families in your prayers.
While Sean, Jessie, and I were praying over the kids, I began to notice many of our kids wearing witchcraft belts. It is a common practice for families to take their children to a witchdoctor for anything. While there, she places a small woven belt around their waist. They never take this off. I had gone the whole week without noticing these around my kids waists. The Spirit was opening my eyes to see the bondage that these kids are under. In only a few short minutes, I noticed at least 4 of my kids wearing these. While Sean was praying out loud, I began to pray for release for each child that I saw wearing these belts. It just broke my heart to know that they were under a demonic spirit. The spiritual world is so prevalent here. Satan is not afraid to hide here, like he is in America. Honestly, I never thought about evil spirits in the States. But I think about it here because I see it here.
Overall, this week has been amazing. Tough, but amazing. It was great to finally dive into full time ministry. I’ve learned so much in such a short amount of time. God has completely broken my hearts for these kids. (I have a feeling I’m going to be saying that frequently this year.)
We leave Refilwe tomorrow morning and move to a mission base called Alabanza. We won’t have regular email access, so I’ll update you when I can. We will be doing two more weeks of children’s camp. It will be just like last week, but will be at different locations near Jo-burg/Pretoria.
Also, you might be able to catch more updates from my Concrete team members. We are all doing the same thing, so you can get a different perspective of what’s going on. Click here and browse through some of Team Concrete’s latest updates on the right side of the page (or browse through everyone’s if you have time!).
Peace and love. Email me if you have anything that I can be praying for you!
Jessie and I playing Red Rover with our group
Doing a skit for all of the kids about becoming a follower of Christ. It was based on Matthew 4:18-22
