Hello all! I am back in Tennessee :) I go back to work tomorrow, but wanted to fill you in on our last day in Cape Town before my kitty Carson and I hit the sack!
We woke up Saturday morning and got packed up before going out to spend the day in downtown. Before we left the Team House (www.theteamhouse.co.za if you want to see where we get to stay :) Tim and Natasha joined us for breakfast. Tim is the coordinator for individuals and Natasha has been working with incoming groups, although we are her last group (she's now going to be helping Tim with individuals). They are a wonderful couple and a blessing to know! After that, we went to one of my fav places- the Old Biscuit Mill! It is in a wealthier part of Cape Town and has a bunch of little shops, as well as a HUGE "farmers market" for lack of a better word. If you live in Knoxville, just think "Saturday at Market Square"... times 10! We spent some time there while part of our group (mostly the "newbies") went to visit Robben Island, where Nelson Mandella was held for 18 years. Then, we went to the Green Market Square- an open African craft market in the middle of downtown. After meeting back up with the rest of the group, we went to the Waterfront, then back to the house for dinner and to load the van for the airport. Avril Thomas (John's wife- they founded Living Hope) joined us for dinner and it was so wonderful to see her again!!! The airport was no picnic and FULL of issues, but we did finally return home. Now I'm going to bed and try I get myself back in this time zone ;) More details soon! Jen
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Here are a few of the extra pics from days 4 & 5. The first one is Mumphie, and the boy in green is Tyrece (Maurice's brother). I never was able to find Maurice, but did get to meet his brother and mom!
Friday was AWESOME!!! Instead of going in the safari like I had planned, I spent the day doing ministry at Living Hope. It was absolutely the right choice! In the first half of the day, we did a team building event for the support group leaders in the Mountain View/Ocean View, Masiphumelele and Capricorn townships. We had a great time playing games, telling stories and praying with them. Afterward, we surprised them with a "field trip" lunch to Nando's (like a nicer version of KFC). They all enjoyed it so much!
It really was a huge blessing to be with these amazing ladies and gentlemen, who so rarely get any attention for themselves, but are in a constant state of giving. It reminded me of Luke 13:30- "And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last." One especially big blessing was the look on my friend Bernadette's face when I saw her that morning (since I was supposed to be on the safari, we had a tearful goodbye on Thursday night). She looked so happy and it just confirmed that I had made the right decision. Bernadette, Allyson, Marguerite, Martha and Naomi are some of the SG leaders i've spent a lot of time with the last 2 years- they are some of the most beautiful people on the planet. On Thursday, Martha and I had been discussing the meaning of names, and she commented that she didn't know the meaning of hers. So, I stayed up late that evening and looked up the meanings of all 5 their names, making them each a note with the info, a scripture to go along with it, and my thoughts about them. I gave them out on Friday morning :) As I expected, all of their names fit them perfectly! After the lunch, the 6 of us from the team (Justin, Brad, Jessica, Kweku, Julie and I) went to the center at Living Care for a time of worship music and devotional reading (Kweku also gave a short message) with the patients there. Most of them were extremely sick, but you could tell they were really enjoying it (especially the music!) We went to the men's ward first, then the ladies side. It was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. After that, we went to meet up with the safari group for dinner in downtown Cape Town at Mama Africa! I had the crocodile kebabs (yum!) and we got to listen to some great local music as well. I'll add a separate post in a minute with more of the pics :) Jen "I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another. By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves]. (John 13:34-35 AMP)
Today, I saw this scripture in action and it was really something special. We began our day in the Mountain View community, doing the health outreach clinic. This included HIV/TB testing, BMI, blood pressure, glucose testing & a snack. We had a great turnout (I will post the pics tomorrow :) and we were able to show some attention to this community. One of the ladies mentioned that the health outreach by Faith Promise every year is the only time she gets a "check up" all year. You could tell how much it meant to her and the others that were there. After that, we got some "free time" and enjoyed lunch in Muizenberg (right off the beach!) before heading back to Ocean View for the evening parent's event! Wow- what a time that was. After the parents heard what we were doing to pamper their kids/grandkids, they rushed in to get in on the action! Several of the parents told us they had never had anyone make them feel so special. Also, none had ever had their hands/face/feet washed by someone else before. They absolutely loved it! It was so powerful- I can't even really explain it, but I'm just glad God allowed me to be a part of treating these women and men. Tomorrow is a "mixed" day, with some of the team going on the safari day, and some going to do a "team building day" with the support group leaders. I am actually paid up for the safari, but after today, I've actually decided to join the team building instead. I just want to spend as much time with these precious ladies as possible! I'm sure some of the others on our team will take plenty of pics, so I can post a few later in the week for you guys to see :) Maybe the next time we come, we can schedule a safari for a "non-ministry" day and I can go then... Good night from Cape Town!!! I just wanted to share with everyone the information for my friend Heather's blog also. You can check it out at www.heatheronamission.blogspot.com. Heather is more gifted than I am at remembering some of the finer details (praise the Lord!), so I want to encourage you to visit her blog as well, so you can hear some more of the "stories" from our journey :)
Have a great day everyone- be blessed! Wow- what another amazing day of ministry at Mountain View! I may have to break this up into two posts, because there were also a few "sightseeing" pics I want to share :)
We kind of did a repeat of yesterday, but with the kids from Mountain View (MV is the community sponsored solely by Faith Promise Church). We started off te morning going door to door again in the community, going into homes to share about the clinic tomorrow and praying/speaking with the people there. It was so humbling to once again be made to feel so welcome in the community and allowed to visit with people right in their homes. I wish you could see what I mean when I say homes, in comparison to our US lives. Most of these "shanti" homes are the size of one bedroom in a normal house. They are made largely of tin/wood pieces, with some cardboard, etc. There are just a few bath houses spread around, all for a community of 6-700 people. We took our lunch over to Boulders Beach to see the African penguins and had a brief, but nice time, before heading back for the hygiene clinic with the MV kids in the afternoon. Okay, so I have to tell you all about the clinic... WOW!!! We thought the children would really want to do everything for themselves, but they absolutely ate up all the attention we gave them in doing each station for them. One of my favorite parts was watching the kids leave Natalie at the foot washing station. Every time she finished washing their feet, she would thank them for letting her do it, and then give them a big hug. They all smiled so big! (and some went back for a second hug :) What a picture of God's love for us and showing the servant's heart of our Lord Jesus! I was at the face washing station again (next), and those kids (especially the teen boys) really touched my heart. As you can see in the picture, the boys would just sit quietly and let us wash their faces. It made us all pause and think about the fact that these boys have probably never had someone care for them in this way. One boy in particular was with Heidi and looked like he was in heaven. The entire time she cleaned his face, he never opened his eyes and had such a look of contentment. I will try to track down the pic of him and post it tomorrow... All in all, we got to give (and receive) the love of Christ all afternoon! It was one of the most amazing times of my life. I wish everyone would do this!!! Now, today's look at Living Hope focuses on Living Grace! This part of LH targets dealing with substance abuse and homelessness. 65% of high school kids in Ocean View alone are using crystal meth and alcohol abuse also very high (fetal alcohol syndrome is a big problem). To help combat these issues, Living Grace started a drug/alcohol program callsd Celebrate Recovery, with Faith Promise actually brought to Living Hope a few years ago :) To aide with the issue of homelessness, predominantly in the Muizenberg area, LG offers food and helps people get work (as street sweepers mostly), as well as running a thrift store offering clothes and other goods at a very low cost. The Food sharing program takes in and prepares bulk food that can be frozen and distributed in the communities (through support groups). Tomorrow I will post some of the pics from today as well, so keep your eyes open :) Nite nite USA! Pics: 1. Homes in Mountain View, 2. Me at Cape Point (in the background is the Cape of Good Hope), Heather and Mumphie (we met her last year, along with her sisters Lissette and Phoebe. They are very precious to us and have such sweet spirits!! Also, please pray for them as their mother was murdered 7 months ago and now they live with their grandmother)
Note: Please remember that photo taking is very very limited in the communities until some time tomorrow, but I will post more once we can take some! Well... Today was AMAZING!!! We started off with morning devotions and fellowship with the support group leaders at the Ocean View township community. I tell you, these ladies are absolutely wonderful. Most of them live in the very communities they serve and have such a heart for their spiritual sisters and brothers. After morning prayer, we went to the community of Mountain View and went door to door, sharing with them that we are doing a free Health/TB Clinic on Thursday and inviting them to come for the screenings and bring their children. What an awesome time! Even though these people have very little (and I mean EXTREMELY little, by our American standards), they open their homes, invite us in, and share their stories openly. As one of our team members, Brenda, said today- they know the meaning of community! Okay- so let me just say that these next comments are NOT to make anyone feel guilty, but I just want you to understand the ways to pray for Living Hope and the 7 communities they serve. When we were going around, talking to people and praying with them, do you want to know what the number 1 prayer request was for? Food. Especially food for their children. Our pastor's wife, Michele, made an observation yesterday that really shook all of us. A little girl had thrown up during kid's club, and there was absolutely NO FOOD in the vomit. Now, that may sounds like a gross and strange comment, but think about it for a minute- no food at all. Let me say- I have NEVER had to pray for a meal. Never. Every day of my life there has always something to eat. I have also always had a dry, warm place to sleep, shoes on both feet, running water, a toilet, and a mom & dad. The next time I hug my dad, I am going to think of the 84% of kids in these 2 specific townships that don't even have a father "figure" in their lives (not to mention an actual father). I don't say this to make you sad, but to encourage you (as I am being encouraged) to be so very thankful for the people and resources we do have in our own lives. The majority of Americans really have no idea what privileges we have. God has blessed us so richly- it is important to remember that He did not do so just so we could buy a bigger house or a nicer car, but so we could help people in need. Okay- enought of my soap box ;) Today's Living Hope "lesson" is on Living Right, the second "arm" of the organization. This focuses on several aspecs: - Teaching on how to live healthy and make right choices (education- ex. Hand washing, diarrhea, drinking water (it would actually shock you to know how many children die here just from dehydration and diarrhea) - Health counselors (HIV, TB, full health screenings including eyes, etc) - Support groups (deals a lot with people on anti-retrial viral meds- ARVs- to keep them on the path, otherwise they default on taking their meds and continue in their disease- specifically TB), groups for single moms (how to prevent them from giving HIV to their babies), HIV patients, TB patients, chronic disease, elderly, etc. - Life skills educators (LSEs) work with children (as I mentioned above, 84% of the children do not have a father figure in their lives). By the way, this is supported by the DAD program (see www.livinghope.co.za for details- basically it is a Dollar A Day- I do this and it is so easy!) - After school programs (The S.A. gov't just took all NGOs (basically all non-profit groups- faith based or otherwise) out of schools about 7 months ago- pray for the LSEs as they make the transition and are trying not to lose contact with these children) After the morning community walks, we went to Cape Point and enjoyed lunch overlooking the point where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. It was one of my favorite sights from last year and was a huge blessing, especially for the first timers in our group. The afternoon was the start of our Hygiene Clinic, which is part of the health outreach this week. We had the privilege of pampering the Ocean View kids by doing face, hand and foot washing stations, followed by nail painting for the little ladies, craft time, and snacks! It was so touching to see the kids enjoying getting clean (they especially loved the WARM water :) Tomorrow, we will do the same thing, but with the children from Mountain View instead. I'm already looking forward to working at my face washing station ;) Well, it is very late and we have a 6am wake up, so good night and God bless from Noordhoek Beach! Today we started the day with a tour of the Living Hope organization. The "newbies" of our group got to enjoy seeing/hearing about all the wonderful things this ministry is involved in. We saw the facility at Living Care (the healthcare mission), then traveled to Masiphumelele to visit Living Right (I will explain below). After that, we went into the township of Ocean View (and Mountain View) to work with the afternoon kids/teens clubs. What an amazing time spent with these beautiful kids! I can't send photos of that yet (LH is now restricting photos early on in the trips so we can get to know the people first beforehand- and also so the people don't feel like "objects").
About Living Care- This "branch" of Living Hope began at the very beginning of the ministry. King of Kings (the Baptist church that founded LH) began an effort to care for people dying with AIDS- to give them the ability to die with dignity, under care and compassion. After a while, they saw that people were getting well, but after they would send them home, the person would soon return sick. Finally, they decided to expand their help to include preventative care, etc. Now, Living Grave encompasses many different things: - Caring for the sick through home based care (in homes) washing people, checking on medicines, etc. - The full service health care center on LH's main campus (20 beds) to manage pain and deal with more drastic care issues LC did 30,000 home visits last year. As a result of their work, HIV infected rates are down dramatically since the start of LH and more people are LIVING with HIV now instead of DYING with AIDS. Pastor John Thomas (founder of LH) will be in the US in the next few weeks visiting with congressmen and the new Republican VP candidate to try and lobby for help (current US financial aide drops off as of Sept 30- this is the money that currently funds Living Care at approx. $30,000/month). LC is the largest expense borne by the organization, as you can likely imagine. Please pray that God will meet this need so they don't have to close the clinic. As we prepare for tomorrow, please be in prayer for our team as we strive to make an impact in the communities of Ocean View and Mountain View. We will begin our Hygiene/Health Clinic tomorrow and are really looking forward to working with the people (mostly kids tomorrow and Wednesday, adults Thursday). We will be doing HIV & TB testing, along with hand/face/foot washing stations- teaching these kids the importance of keeping their bodies clean and how this prevents disease from spreading. I hope all is well back home! Love you guys!!! |
AuthorI am passionate about world missions, specifically the country of South Africa. As an Ambassador for Living Hope Ministries in Cape Town, I am honored to serve with them in impacting their community for Christ! Archives
August 2018
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