Today is day 3 of our Red Rocks Team trip to South Africa. We've had an amazing trip. This is by far the best missions trip I've ever taken. We have a great team. Everyone is working really hard, there hasn't been any complaining, everyone is eager to get involved and do whatever needs to be done.
Today was our first full day of ministry. We worked in the garden and played with the kids at the Lighthouse Shelter.
Part of our team spent the day in Phokeng working at Martha's house. Martha is a lady that cares for 40 - 50 orphans that live in her community. She feeds them once a day, helps them with homework, and acts as a surrogate parent to them. The kids do not live with her, they just visit once a day for their meal and some love. The YWAM team here in Rustenburg has built a car port, and then bricked it in with rooms to be a kitchen, eating area, and two rooms. Our team is putting in a ceiling, doors, and kitchen cabinets. Today we started working on the doors and installing the ceiling.
In the afternoon the rest of the team came over and spent the rest of the day playing with the kids, singing songs with the guitar, and dancing together. Everyone had a lot of fun. We brought some instruments to give to the kids, like tambourines, drums, and some homemade recorders.
One amazing story happened today. Three years ago when we lived here there were 5 siblings that came to live at the shelter. They had been taken from their parents because the father had beat them with a cattle whip. After several months at the shelter the social workers informed us that the kids were returning to their family because the parents had gone through "counseling." It broke our heart to let them go, but we had no choice.
When our team arrived this week we were met by one of the little girls that is one of those siblings. She has been sent back to the shelter because she had been beat again so badly that she was sent to the hospital for 5 days. She is such a sweetheart with a beautiful smile and wonderful personality.
Today she was hanging out with some of our team talking to them. She is very open and vulnerable about her experiences and willing to share. One of our team members, Jenny, was asking her if she ever prays. She said, "Oh yes, I love Jesus, I pray all the time." Jenny asked her what she prays for, and she said, "Oh, every night I pray for an instrument. I really want a tambourine, or guitar, or drum."
Well, she didn't know that Jenny is a music teacher and we had brought 4 suitcases filled with kid's instruments and a guitar. So, Jenny asked her what instrument she wanted and she picked out a tambourine that she was able to color and decorate. She was beaming from ear to ear, she was so happy.
Then as they were talking some more Jenny commented on how she liked the bandanna the little girl was wearing. This little girl wears a bandanna because her head was shaved because of her injuries. She said that she has been praying for a princess crown so that people don't see her bandanna on her head. Jenny had brought princess crowns for the girls in the shelter to decorate. This precious little girl was able to decorate her own princess crown.
She spent the rest of the day hanging out with the team, and eating dinner with us, being the little princess of the group. It was really an amazing God moment where the team had the opportunity to be used by God in a really special way. We look forward to seeing what else God does on this trip.
When our team arrived this week we were met by one of the little girls that is one of those siblings. She has been sent back to the shelter because she had been beat again so badly that she was sent to the hospital for 5 days. She is such a sweetheart with a beautiful smile and wonderful personality.
Today she was hanging out with some of our team talking to them. She is very open and vulnerable about her experiences and willing to share. One of our team members, Jenny, was asking her if she ever prays. She said, "Oh yes, I love Jesus, I pray all the time." Jenny asked her what she prays for, and she said, "Oh, every night I pray for an instrument. I really want a tambourine, or guitar, or drum."
Well, she didn't know that Jenny is a music teacher and we had brought 4 suitcases filled with kid's instruments and a guitar. So, Jenny asked her what instrument she wanted and she picked out a tambourine that she was able to color and decorate. She was beaming from ear to ear, she was so happy.
Then as they were talking some more Jenny commented on how she liked the bandanna the little girl was wearing. This little girl wears a bandanna because her head was shaved because of her injuries. She said that she has been praying for a princess crown so that people don't see her bandanna on her head. Jenny had brought princess crowns for the girls in the shelter to decorate. This precious little girl was able to decorate her own princess crown.
She spent the rest of the day hanging out with the team, and eating dinner with us, being the little princess of the group. It was really an amazing God moment where the team had the opportunity to be used by God in a really special way. We look forward to seeing what else God does on this trip.
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