This month our ministry is at a local hospital called Hope House.
It’s in the pretty mountains of Swaziland and is different than many other hospitals.
It is run by Sister Joseph, a sweet little nun.
The grounds are comprised of a collection of assisted living houses all gathered together in a community like a neighborhood. It gives less of the hospital feel and more of a homey feel. They have a small chapel and beautiful gardens with roses and flowers.
We were instructed to go in a visit with the patients and pray for them.
Some spoke English and some needed a translator, but they were all thrilled to have visitors.
One lady especially stood out to us. Her name was Phumzile, [poom-zee-lay] and she was sitting on her couch cutting up green herbs when we walked in.
She welcomed us warmly.
We sat with her and began asking her questions about her life and family.
Phumzile was so happy to see us that she asked to pray for us before we prayed for her!
Actually, anytime we said the word “pray” she would sit up and say,
“Oh! Yes, I will pray. Shut your eyes girls, close them.”
And then she would pray! Her prayers were short and sweet, only 2 sentences.
When she finished praying she said “God says not to repeat things to Him. Just ask once and believe.” She challenged me in my prayer life. How many times do I repeat things over and over hoping that this time God will hear? God loves giving us good things, so I tell Him what I want once and He hears.
It’s so good!
When we asked some patients if they knew Jesus they would smile and say,
“Yes…yes I know Him. He is everything. He gives me strength to do the things I need to do. I pray to Him every day!”
Their faith is so simple, so basic.
But it’s so real.
We soaked in everything they said.
One woman asked how it was that we “left the things of the world to love Jesus so much” and we could only say it was God who helped us.
Some patients couldn’t even speak. So we would pray and read some psalms. Morgan is a beautiful dancer and is planning on dancing to the song “You’re Beautiful” by Phil Wickham for the patients next week. She practiced today for some patients while Hannah and I sang. She was so graceful and confident and everyone lit up watching her. We brought so much joy and life to the hospital!
Smiles of hope were all around.
More to come from South Africa next month! Thank you all for the recent donations. I'm only 2,000 away from being fully funded!!!
