After having last week Monday off we were ready to start the week. Tuesday morning we went to Zwelethemba and attended a Bible study with the elders from the community. While Elisha was worshiping it was great to see all the old people singing and swaying back and forth. They were smiling and having a great time. Luana shared Psalm 91 with them and how we can find refuge and peace in God. After the service we prayed for a lot of land that Pastor Yang bought and he is planning on building a church there. We prayed for funds and that souls would be won on the property. In the afternoon we went to the hospital to pray. We started in the waiting area outside then later, when visiting hours started, went into the wards. I went to the children’s ward inside. The last boy and mother we met were uplifting and encouraging. Her son was in there with a broken arm. He had fallen out of a tree while he was playing and had surgery that morning. I told the mom were I was from started asking her if she knew who Jesus was. As soon as I said she went on and on about how she is a Christian and told me her life story. She is a mother of four boys and is raising them in a wonderful household. She teaches them about Jesus and when they pray Jesus will hear their prayers and answers them. Her husband is still not a Christian. She said there has been many times when she has wanted to leave him. She continues to pray daily that we would turn from his drinking and sinful life and turn to God. Her hope is that one day her and her family can go and preach the good news to people that don’t know God. It was encouraging to see this mother’s faith and to here how she is raiding her boys. One day, when I have children, I pray that I will have the faith and love she has.
Wednesday morning we put some butter on some bread and made sandwiches. We went to Zwelethemba and did a little service with them. We weren’t prepared to lead the time, but when we got there Pastor Yang said we had to come up with something because Elisha couldn’t come till a bit later. Thankfully Tory had her guitar and we sang some songs with them. Then Audrey asked me to tell them a short story from the Bible. Quickly I decided to tell about David and Goliath. I told a short and simple version of it because the kids started getting restless. Once it was over we passed out the sandwiches and snacks. The kids did not listen well. They didn’t stay in there lines and after they got their food they tried to get back into line to get more and we had to tell them no, sternly. It was hard to tell no, I felt like I was being really mean. That afternoon we planned some more dramas and things for future outreaches.
Thursday morning we went to De Doorns. First we visited a woman whose grandson is being sponsored by Pastor Yang and his church. The grandson, John, is in South Korea going to university. We brought her some food and prayed with her. She was a beautiful lady. After that we went and did the same thing as we did on Wednesday in Zwelethemba. Elisha led some songs, we did the box drama, I told the story of David and Goliath again, and then we passed out butter and bread sandwiches and snacks. The children there were much better when we handed out the food. They all stayed in their lines and didn’t try to get more food. That afternoon we split into two groups and planned for our outreach on Saturday at the De Doorns and Zwelethemba. One thing that touched me while we were at De Doorns that day was this little boy. He looked like he had been burnt and was now blind. He only spoke Afrikaans so I couldn’t communicate with him. While they were singing songs he was causing commotion. He used his hands to feel everyone and it was annoying the other children. I took him aside and he just embraced me. He was feeling me and found my ring. So every time that he wanted to find me he would feel my hand to find my ring and then he knew it was me. This was probably the best part of my week. To be there for him and for him to feel that he was safe with me felt awesome. I loved it!
Friday morning we did a prayer walk through Worcester. Audrey and Jonny were in my group. We walked through a sketchy part. Mom, this was the first part of town that we drove through where things looked a bit dangerous. There were a lot of drunken people and the men looked at Audrey and I like we were meat. It was disgusting, but thankfully we had Jesus protecting us and Jonny there. The prayer walk was hard for me because I would pray for a minute or so then get distracted by something else and stop praying. Guess it’s my ADD getting in the way. While we were doing the prayer walk Daniel, Luana, and Tory went to the lady’s house that Luana met last week at the hospital. I mentioned it in my post last week. She wasn’t able to talk with them because her boyfriend was home, but they are going to go back there this week, I think tomorrow. That afternoon we had off so I just stayed at the base, rested, and talked to some friends on the internet.
Saturday morning one group went to Zwelethemba and my group went to De Doorns. Elisha led worship, then I tried to play Simon says with them, but we didn’t have a translator so I couldn’t explain it to them and they really had no idea what was going on. After attempting the game Jonny shared Daniel in the lions den with them. He did a good job. He used a lot of body movements and hand motions. I think they understood. We passed out coloring papers of Daniel in the den and crayons. They did an awesome job coloring and sharing the crayons. We were all surprised. As they left we passed out snacks and stickers. For Christmas my sister gave me a bunch of stickers to bring and pass out to the children. Hanna they are perfect! The kids love them! Thank you! That afternoon we went to the Hospice. The hospices here are not only for old people. The doctors will send any age. They send sick people there to hopefully get them better and out again or to die, so we didn’t know what to expect. When we got there we split into pairs. I was with Luana. The first lady we met was extremely ill. They couldn’t tell us what she was sick with, but both of us think it was AIDS. She was so thin, just skin and bones. It looked like if you moved her she would break. She looked like an old woman, but we think that she couldn’t have been older than 30 or 35. We held her hands and prayed with her. Her fingers were ice cold. She was like living dead. We just prayed that she would feel God’s love and that if she hadn’t accepted Jesus that she would do that before she took her last breath. This had a huge affect on us. After we left her we said hi to two other ladies then just went and sat outside. We both didn’t know what to say. We just sat there, speechless. We saw what this disease does in the end, death. It was sad to see her like that. I still can’t get the picture of her out of my mind. I will continue to pray for her.
Sunday we went to church again as a team. We went to this church that reminded me of a Catholic church. We stood up, sang a song, sat down, prayed, and sang another song… It was so stiff. It didn’t feel like church to me, but thankfully the service was only an hour. I think next week we are going to AFM again. That afternoon we went to De Doorns and helped at a church service that we went to last week. We split into four small groups after worship and preaching. Jane and I shared a short testimony with our group and how we have hope in Christ. At the end we asked if there was anything that we could pray for with them. A few of them shared and we prayed Korean style. It was cool to hear all of praying in different languages. The ladies were so happy when they left.
And Monday…. While we were at De Doorns on Sunday all of us were tired and not with it. All of us were ready for a day off and it could not have come any sooner. Today I went to base worship then went on a run with Jane. After showering we went to the mall with Audrey for an hour or so, bought some food and came back to the base. This afternoon I laid in bed and watched movies and napped. I am much more thankful for our day off this week. They have warned us that this week is going to be busier. Today we got some good and bad news. There are three outreach teams coming to the base this week so we have to move out of the room we are in now and back into the dorm we were in during the lecture phase, but we also found out that we are leaving sooner for Swaziland. They won’t tell us when yet, but sooner than two weeks. So that is exciting! More news on that when it comes. So since last Monday I have forgotten how to upload photos and I am too tired to do it tonight so I will try and figure it our tomorrow. I did upload them onto myspace so if you have it check that out.
