This past week, we spent in Groblersdal. Its a small farming town just a few hours away from Joburg. We worked with 2 pastors(a married couple) who just opened their church at the end of July. Their congregation is only made up of about 30 people but the connections they have in the community are vast.
Going into the week, we weren’t sure what ministry would look like. The biggest thing you learn while being on the Race is flexibility. So we thought we were ready for anything. The first day we were there, a lady in the congregation offered us her house at no cost for the week. Little did we know how much of an impression she would leave during the 5 days we stayed at her house.
That night we attended a prayer gathering for the local farmers. For the past couple of months, 3 farmers a week have been killed for their property. Because the unemployment rate is so high, the desperation of survival is frightening. The size of the community that gathered to pray for these families was massive. It showed the strength of the community even in a hard and dangerous time.
The next day as we met with the pastors to discuss what we would be doing for the week, we were exhausted. Not just physically but spiritually. The kind of exhausted that sleep can’t fix. We tried our best to act as though we were fresh and ready to serve, but the pastors saw right through us. These two are very in tune with the Holy Spirit and changed our whole program for the week based on what we needed. It was one of the most humbling times on the Race for me. In my mind, we failed. To have a host tell you that you are depleted and that they were changing our program to give us rest, was incredibly hard. To accept the fact that yes we have been on the field for 11 months but that we had hit our end was disappointing. But it’s what we needed. We were gat vol. (South African word for ‘had enough’).
So this past week was full of fellowship with the local community in braai’s(South African barbecue), potjie (South African dish), and hanging with the pastor’s family and our house mother.
As hard as it was to accept the fact that we didn’t physically serve this host, it was one of the best weeks I’ve had on the race. It changed my perspective on missionaries, spiritual strength, humility, and how we can serve others where they are actually at.
So thank you to our new family in Groblersdal for serving us so well this week and for giving us the motivation we need to finish this last week strong.
