well, we're back from our trip to Magogong! And I have to say, Elna's house (our guesthouse here in pretoria) reallllly feels like home! When we arrived, there were even gifts waiting for us on our pillows :) Guess what mine was?......A coke light and a teen magazine!!!!! It was seriously awesome. you know how much i love magazines too!
So, to update on my time here as of now- I DID NOT get the flu or throw ups!! Praise God, and I am serious. Half of the team was so sick that half of us had to stay here in Pretoria while the rest went on to Magogong last Saturday, and then 5 of us drove down on Monday. So, I was in the group that stayed back for 2 days, and for those 2 days, we watched 2 movies and spent alot of time driving around tyring to purchase space heaters (unsuccessful) and reading/journaling. Then we took a 7 hour drive to the Northern cape- the drive was through country roads that run through no major cities, past alot of squatter camps that look like shacks made with material found randomly. I really saw how poor South Africa is on that drive! And the towns that we passed through looked so old timey like they were out of the 80s or something! It was weird.
To sum up the week- it was really fun getting to do vacation bible school for the children- my group was me, Ashton (my MP!), Allie, Josh H, and Brinck. Every day our schedule was like this- bfast @ 6:45, leave @ 7:15, get to the townships at 8, have the camps from 9-12, then go back to the church where we all met for lunch that started at 2, then afternoons for naps and mandatory stuff, and dinner at 6. The hardest thing about the week was the language barrier- all the kids spoke Tswane and couldnt understand me, and also patience because i got assigned to work with the preschoolers, basically kids that were too young to have been there. God really taught me alot about what it means to be like Christ, who loved the children, looked on the poor and needy with compassion and love, and my smiles and doing sillly motions to songs and stuff that isnt my natural tendency is a way to be likeJesus to the kids. They loved me!! I would hold two little girls at one time in my lap- it was so precious and tender. Some cool things about the week:
-I got to share my testimony at the camp
-I really fought to find joy in God
-Every day Ashton and I would pray for eachother
-I feel like I pushed myself in alot of ways to really be there and deal with frusteration- the days were loooong and very cold
-Am so grateful for the ways God has blessed me with my family and all the cool things i take for granted like water that is clean! (the water there tasted bad)
Some hard things:
-The volunteers werent all Christians, so it was hard to communicate on the same level as them (they were like 15 years old)
-Lunch was served at 2!! that was hard to be patient
-It reminded me of Clubhouse, and was emotionally hard
-I got really upset on the way back about driving and felt unsafe, and freaked out...then Ben called us girls out in front of the team-im still working through this one, so you can pray that I wouldnt always want to be right (isnt that funny emily owens?)
-barely had enough alone time or time with Jesus
So, yesterday was my sabbath- I went to menlyn mall and talked to Em!! and downloaded some cartoons to watch when I am scared or late at night. Then we had a team barbeque! I really love the girls that i am living with, last night we stayed up talking till 1 something. today we went to church at the church plant, then went to lunch (i had Anats :) )
We leave for the Safari tomorrow, till thursday. I am actually getting excited about it, news that we will have bathrooms and plugs i think, plus the fact that we are going to go to a place in south africa like a mini Las vegas is fun!!! I cant believe the summer is halfway up, although it feels like we have been here for a looong time. Well, here are some things you can pray for me for-
pray that i would really trust in Jesus with all my heart!! that psalm 62:5-8 would be true
and that I would not just exist here, that i would be all here and sharing my heart constantly, and that i would be changed to be more like Christ! I have felt stretched alot lately, and am tempted to just step back and make it through, but sanctification comes through suffering and perseverence.
Thats all for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment