I wish I had an easy way to describe to you a “day in the life” at Zehandi South Africa.
But sadly I can’t.
Why?
Every single day looked completely different.
There were some basics:
Wake up before the sun.
Eat breakfast at 7 or 730
Most likely wear the same clothes you were wearing to bed
[because it was THAT cold]
Eat some guavas.
Do ministry in the morning.
Eat lunch.
Do ministry in the afternoon.
Eat more guavas.
Make dinner
Eat dinner
Have team time.
Watch New Girl
Snuggle up in the line of 14 sleeping bags
Fall asleep
Wake up sometime in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom with Catherine
[that was just me]
So those are the basics. A general outline of what happened each day. But with most general outlines there is a bunch of random things that can get thrown in the mix.
And here they are:
A Day in the Life: Baby House edition.
There are two different scenarios with the baby house. Both involve holding babies, changing diapers, feeding babies and loving and praying on those little ones who are in need of the knowledge that they are wanted.
The babies in the baby house were given up by their biological parents and due to the different laws in South Africa there is a holding time before they can be adopted. So there was a week old baby to a 7 month old at these houses.
And we were there around the clock for the most part. Most of my shifts happened at night 7pm-7am. But I did have one day shift in which my alarm read 4:45am.
A day in the life: Guava farming edition
This scenario involved doing devotions with the guava farm workers at 730. I shared one day about feeling rejected and using my voice. We then went out on the tractors and worked alongside the workers for a few hours helping them pick up guavas off the ground. We talked and hauled buckets- help them get their tickets punched and got crazy dirty from falling into sink holes and trudging through mud.
But it was awesome.
A day in the life: Homeschool edition.
I think this actually ended being one of my favorite things I did this month. Our contacts kiddos: Seneca, Johan and Dirk are all homeschooled so Marie always needed someone to watch out for them and redirect them back to their studies.
And as aggravating as it got I loved it. Because no matter how much I nagged them to do their work or how much I stared them down at the end of EVERY school time all of the kids always thanked me, hugged me and told me they were glad I was their teacher.
A day in the life: Squatter camp edition
Zehandi ministries is stepping into a squatter camp in the Bellville area to help meet the needs of the community. A squatter camp is just as it sounds. In South Africa if you “squat” somewhere you can stay. And so because of this communities of shacks and shanties rise up in groupings.
These are people who have very little. Who have lost hope. Who don’t know where to go next. Zehandi wants to empower and help these people regain the hope they once had.
So we went into the camps and talked to people- found out there stories, found out what they needed be it kitchens, plumbing, gardens or just friends.
I found the kids. You can read about them here.
A day in the life: Extreme home makeover Edition
The last two days of ministry in South Africa were spent inside the new mission base for Zehandi Ministry. We were cleaning, tearing down, painting and envisioning what was going to go on there.
My two days were spent doing two very monotonous tasks.
One being scraping paint off of bathroom tiles.
With a coin.
For seven hours.
Cat and I [with a few helpers along the way] Spent our days crammed in this tiny side bathroom scraping away at [lead] paint, listening to music and jamming out. It was crazy. But I saw Jesus. Even in the random tasks. No matter how weird something seems to be—Jesus can be there.
The other random task I had was scraping cork board off of a cabinet. My knuckles might not be the same but my goal those last few days of ministry was to make a mark on the house. And I feel I did!
Those are all the different crazy days that I had in South Africa with Zehandi Ministry. I learned SO much- which I will explain in another blog. But for the month of June this hectic-ness was my life!
Watch the Zehandi Missions video that my lovely teammates and squadmates made for even more of a picture of our month!
