As the adventures continue, so do the hard times. I have seen people’s faces light up with joy while we speak. I have seen the sorrow and hurt in people’s eyes without a hint of happiness. I have laughed and danced with people in the community. I have held back tears as I’ve listened to them tell their stories. And I haven’t even scratched the surface yet. I haven’t experienced the hard stuff yet.
One lady does stick out in my mind, though. You can read about her here. We went back a few days ago to check on her again. Sadness filled her eyes. Her 7 month old son was sick. When you looked at him you could tell something was wrong. He wasn’t eating much and would vomit when he did. The doctor gave him a load of antibiotics without really diagnosing him with anything. This is very common here – misdiagnosing or writing off a patient by simply giving them some sort of antibiotic to take home. Due to the large amount of antibiotics this boy was given, he developed thrush in his mouth, which made it even more painful for him to eat. His mother told us that they thought he was going to die a few nights prior. We were able to pray over him before we left. Hopefully we will be back soon to check on him.
We have had a few visitors since I last wrote! We had a lady from the Netherlands who came for a few days to speak on how to care for children. She spoke to a group of pastors, a group of mothers and then a group of children. She was so interesting and did an excellent job relaying information in a way that was culturally relevant.
Stew, Sandra and Caitlin came to visit all the way from Canada! They were here for two weeks and stayed on the farm with us. Caitlin is a few years older than me, so it was nice to have someone my age at the farm. They are all involved in counseling one way or another, so they were able to talk to the police force, the pastors and the young people in the area in a way no one else on the team is trained to. It was incredible to watch them speak. They were also able to speak with the team – individually and as a whole. It’s quite important to process all that is going on here! Unfortunately, Stew, Sandra and Caitlin left yesterday but another team is coming soon!
I have become more involved in more aspects of the ministry. On Monday mornings I help Darryl, the Director of Emoyeni South Africa, with some admin stuff. Things pile up so quickly and it’s tough to get it all done. So I help to get things sorted a bit. Monday afternoons consist of Kid’s Club and prayer right after. Tuesday mornings we either go grocery shopping or have a quiet morning before doing home visits. This is where we visit people in the community and hear stories about their lives. This is where the tough stuff happens. Tuesday nights consist of Fire Starters. I’m really learning a lot there and getting out of my comfort zone!
Wednesday mornings I have joined my friend Claire at her ministry, Lydia’s Circle. She ministers to the women who work in the dump collecting trash, a very degrading job. I love to go and sing and pray with them. They are a joyful group of women despite their circumstances. It is truly an amazing experience. Unfortunately, the garbage truck that comes and collects the garbage and in turn, give them their money for work, has broken down. As of right now, the women have no income.
In the afternoon, we usually do a few more home visits. The late afternoon and evening we travel to a neighboring town, Elukwatini, to do pastor’s training. I love seeing people on fire for the Lord and hungry for more! Thursday mornings I either attend a Bible study with the ladies or help out in the preschool while the teachers go to the Bible study. I helped out in the preschool for the first time a few weeks ago and let me tell you, the teachers sure need help in there! It was a little overwhelming at first, but I think I’ll really enjoy it. We also do a home visit or two in the afternoon. Friday mornings we have our team meetings and then planning for the upcoming week.
I have had the privilege to travel to a ton of cool places since I’ve been here! A few weekends ago we went to Kaapsahoop. It sits on top of a mountain and there are giant boulders everywhere. There are also wild horses! We hiked to the edge of the cliff as the horses galloped past us. It was amazing. The view from the edge was break taking. You could see for miles and miles! It was one of the most beautiful places I have been so far.
While Stew, Sandra and Caitlin were here, a few of us went on a mini game drive at Cradle of Life. There is a wild cat reserve not too far from where we live that also has other animals. They have a deal on Sundays for brunch, the game drive and the big cat feeding, so we opted to do that one weekend. The food was actually really good! The game drive was pretty neat - we saw impala, antelope, zebra and a few other animals. The big cat feeding was awesome! They have lions, tigers (and bears, oh my! not really though), cheetah, leopard, serval, hyena and lots of other animals too! They drove the truck with raw meat in front of us and would throw it into their cage area in front of us. (It wasn’t a cage, but it was like a zoo. Fenced in area.) Super cool to see how they all ‘hunt’ differently.
And the big trip: Kruger! If you aren’t familiar with Kruger National Park, it’s where the Battle of Kruger that Nat Geo always airs was. If you aren’t familiar with the Battle of Kruger, Google it because it’s AMAZING. Unless you don’t like watching animals hunt, because then I would recommend NOT watching it. Anyway, we went for two days and it was so awesome! By far one of the coolest experiences of my life. While there I saw the Big 5, which is apparently really rare. The Big 5 includes lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard and rhino. The Big 5 are often poached. But I saw all of them! I can’t even remember all of the animals I saw, but I’ll try to list them here:
Lion
Leopard
Elephant
Giraffe
Sable
Impala
Water buck
Kudu
Buffalo
Zebra
Ground Hornbill
Saddlebilled Stork
Wildebeest
Warthog
Hippo
Crocodile
Many kinds of birds
Many kinds of antelope
I know I am missing so many. Some animals got so close to our car we could have reached out and touched them! Except for that would be illegal. At one point, we pulled up to a water hole and there were at least 15-20 elephants in the water playing! Now THAT was cool to see. Another time at a water hole, there were at least 10 different species there all drinking out of the water. It looked like it was a scene straight out of The Lion King.
One day before Pastor’s Training a few weeks ago, we were able to have coffee with a dear friend of Emoyeni’s from Ethiopia. We had requested that we only have coffee, but in true African fashion, we were served lunch as well. We had a traditional meal of lentils loaded with spices and served on injera. This is served with every meal and is basically a moist, spongey sourdough flatbread. You don’t use utensils, but instead use to injera to scoop the food. I was a little nervous to eat it I’m not going to lie, but it was so good! I would definitely go back to his house for a meal.
After we ate came the coffee. I’m not a huge coffee drinker and usually only have it if I know I need the caffeine. I didn’t want to be rude so I had a cup (or two). Ethiopians have a very particular way to make the coffee. They use fresh coffee beans, roasted that morning. They are ground right before they are stuffed into a black ceramic kettle that has boiling water in it. Then they let it simmer for a while. The coffee was served in a small china cup with a scoop of sugar. I have never tasted something so amazing in my life. If that is how coffee tasted every time it was made, I would 100% be a coffee drinker. No words for how delicious it was!
Last weekend Pastor Tendai put on a conference, Grace and Glory. Amazing doesn’t even describe it well. People from the community came and we all worshiped together. Even though I’m in a place that doesn’t predominately speak English and I hear SiSwati every day, it still amazes me when people pray in SiSwati. It just reaffirms that God has no language barrier. Wow. I love it! I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it. The presence of the Holy Spirit was so full and thick in the room. People were falling on their faces in reverence. We sang, we danced, we worshiped. It was indescribable.
Along with the good days, come the hard days. As soon as I see strides in the community or feel like I’m really growing spiritually, Satan throws something my way that I wasn’t expecting. It’s so obvious that he really will try anything to stop us in our tracks. But it won’t work. He has no power here. Jesus has won and the grave has been defeated. I like to remind him of that when he gets a little too comfortable here. :) I’m just so in awe of God’s faithfulness and how He has been taking care of me physically, spiritually and emotionally during this time.
As ‘normal’ as life is over here, things are so different. As I’m sitting here writing on the free wifi at a local place (one of two that offers it), there are three peacocks just sitting on the porch next to me. It’s crazy. But it’s normal. Earlier today as I was waiting for someone to pick me up, I watched the mama and baby warthogs that live near our property graze throughout the mac nut trees. Sometimes the kudu run across the dirt road as we are driving to the tar road. We often stop for cows in the middle of the road. We stop so a chicken and its chicks can cross the road (it’s real. I laugh every time). It’s normal. It’s Africa.
Every day my heart grows fonder of this place and the people here. I can see God working throughout the town and I’m excited for the things to come. Thank you all for being a part of my journey.
Here are a few specific ways you can pray for the team and I and what is going on in Badplaas:
The garbage truck to be fixed so the ladies at Lydia’s Circle can start to receive income again.
The children at Kid’s Club to be open to hearing about Jesus.
The parents of the children that attend Kid’s Club. That they would be understanding, open to hearing the Gospel and good parents to the children.
Boldness among the team.
The woman and her family who had no food. Please pray for healing for the son.
The women in this community that they would find their worth and identity in Jesus and not other men.
The team would stand firm in Truth. As the enemy tries to attack us, that we would know that Jesus wins. Please pray for protection over our heats, minds and bodies.
Thank you for your faithful prayers.
In Christ,
