Lives are Changed

On our way down the rocky dirt road to Bongane’s house we found our friends waiting for us outside in the warming sun last Friday. We spent that whole morning with them learning more about each other, learning some Sesotho words, taking pictures, and singing songs! They sang more songs for us but we had to sing songs for them too. They soon learned we didn’t have as much talent as they did!
Saying goodbye was hard. Although I’ll be here for several months still, I might not see them again. We developed a great relationship with them and they became our buddies. One of our friends also said that it was hard to say goodbye and they all showed it. They walked with us to the church and after a few more minutes and pictures, we said our final bye.
Even though they didn’t promise that they would come to church, they showed up Sunday morning! It was a great blessing to see them show up and to praise God and dance together for a little bit.
During the service the pastor invited anyone up to the altar to receive Christ as their Savior. Thabo, our friend we talked with Tuesday, went up and prayed! I was so excited I began to cry. It’s amazing to me what God can do in someone’s life. God brought us to Thabo’s house for only one day and that brought Thabo to church which lead to him getting saved! After seeing this, my mind goes back to our conversation with him on Tuesday. Even though his words sounded insightful, he did seem troubled on his future. I told him God gives us a hope and a future and promises it in Jeremiah 29:11. I know now that God can be his hope and help him with his desire to do the right things in his life.

Chores, Dancing, and Games!

Thursday we were on our way to hang out with our friends, Nelson and his buddies, when neighbor called us over. He wanted us to help him with ideas for his new business. There wasn’t much we could help with and after offering a little help we told him we would pray over him and his business. We also invited him to church.
We continued on to Bongane’s house where we were told we would meet Nelson, Mokgati, Tshokolo, Masilo, and Motsamai. We found Bongane busy with his chores. Ashley and Kaityn helped with laundry, while the rest of us tried to learn how to split wood with a hammer and chisel. After the chores were done we met some more friends. We had fun dancing, playing, and learning more games with them!

Powerful Moments

Every day has been fun, but I would have to say that Wednesday was the most exciting and emotional for me so far. The first house we couldn’t stay at because the lady was leaving. We went on and found a group of people outside of their houses to warm up in the sun. After introducing ourselves and chatting a bit they soon learned that we came from the World Fellowship Church and had a children’s program there every afternoon. The lady we talked with said she would send her daughter there, but also wondered if she could go there to get prayer. Kaitlyn told her we could pray for her right now. She then had a conversation with Rabel in Sesotho. After a few short minutes we found ourselves following her to pray over a sick friend of hers. We arrived and discovered more people sitting out in the sun. They called out the sick lady and we prayed over her. As soon as we finished praying another jumped into our circle and wanted prayer for healing too! One after another they told us where their bodies hurt and we prayed for healing. Even a little girl wanted prayer so that she would do well in school. Although praying for people to receive healing was powerful, the touching moment for me was our conversation with a drunk man. He asked for prayer but we knew his problems resulted from his drinking. While we listened to the drunk man, I felt it was my job to bring up the spiritual battle going on in him. My heart hurt for him and when we walked away, I had a smile on my face but tears behind my sunglasses. We told him we would continue to pray for him and he said he would pray for us. He said we are doing a good thing and he will pray the Holy Spirit will give us more and more power. I told him he can have the Holy Spirit’s power. He told us he did and he preaches at a church but he has a hard time trying to quit drinking. He promised us he will quit someday, but kept drinking while we talked. We invited him to church and hope to see him again Sunday.
I feel like being a leader in my group has brought me to a new level in building relationships. Until now I looked to others to understand; now they are looking to me. Last week I couldn’t imagine myself in this position, and the thought of it made me nervous. I didn’t realize how much I have learned about this culture until I have been placed in a position to show it. I’m not struggling for words to say when conversation dies anymore. I know my team should have the chance to ask questions and I ask because I want to, not because I feel like I should.
After lunch we spent the rest of the day with Nelson and his friends. They taught us one of their games that they play. We call it Tic-Tac-Toe Extreme!

First Snow!

We visited four houses today. The first was Charlie, but we couldn’t stay because he was just on his way out to go somewhere. We went on and met with Thabo, who lives with his mom, sister, and daughter. We stayed a while at his house and he shared his history and how he has made both bad and good choices in life. Now he is trying to do the right thing to succeed in life. We encouraged him and prayed over him and then invited him to church. He said he would see us again at church on Sunday!
We still had an hour before lunch so we visited with a 15 year old girl named Ebohang. She lives with her grandma and older sister but both were not home while we talked with her. We asked her many questions about her culture and life and she enjoyed sharing her answers with us.
After lunch we went back to Nelson’s house, where we visited yesterday. He wasn’t home at first so we visited with his mom, sister, and met his sister’s toddler, Palesa. Later Nelson arrived with four of his friends. While meeting and talking with them we heard someone yell, “It’s snowing!” We hurried outside to enjoy their first snow this year (also our first snow in Africa!) Then they sang some Sesotho songs for us with some dancing! Even though it was very cold outside we enjoyed watching their talent.
When we arrived back on base it was fun to see a little snow on the ground and stuck on buildings!
To see picture, go here: http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=1162453421#!/album.php?aid=2047001&id=1162453421

New Friends

This week we are joining with the Next Step interns to do Relationship Evangelism in Qwa Qwa! Along with visiting families in the village, we will have an opportunity to lead Children’s Ministry and visit children in the hospital. The 24/7 interns get to lead the groups of NS interns in our week of ministry.
My group was Ashley, Alicia, Kaitlyn, and Stephen. Rabel was our interpreter. Rabel lead us to our first house, which was a shack made out of metal. I was nervous as soon as we started to approach the house because I knew I have a hard time seeing people living in homes like these. I’ve only been in two other homes like this and both were very sad environments. However, a very nice lady welcomed us in and her son, who spoke very good English, talked with us the rest of the morning. The shack was very warm and homey inside. The son, Joseph, was very encouraging as he shared about his blessings from God and how good God is to him and his family! Hearing him say this was close to the last thing I expected to hear from a family living there.
After lunch we ventured further into the village and met Nelson who had a friend over watching a World Cup game. They were very friendly and interested in America, why we were here, and how we liked South Africa. Our two hours with them that afternoon went quickly and before leaving they asked us when we would be back, so we planned a time to meet with them tomorrow.

Let’s Worship Together!

Last Thursday we visited Lilian for the last time in these next couple months. We invited her and hoped she would come to church because we would be there and get to see her again this week. Today just before church we hurried to her house to see if she was coming. We were happy to see her all dressed up and ready to come with us!
We had fun dancing with her while praising and worshiping our God. Like most South African churches, worship went for over an hour and another hour of preaching followed. We also had the summer internship, Next Step, joining us. They will be here for two months and during these months our schedule has changed so that we can join them this summer/winter. It was a big blessing to worship with all of us together!

Graduation

Last Wednesday we had our final lesson and then celebrated our learner’s graduation! It was a fun and exciting day for all of us. Jenna and I were also very encouraged to hear them share of how these classes have impacted their lives too. We didn’t expect to hear anything from them since they have been a quiet class, however, most of them came up to share! One said that he use to be full of hate but now he is full of love. Another said that she goes to church with her family but didn’t care about God or know Who He really was until she started coming to our class.
We finished our party with snacks and sweets. We had our five graduates come over for their gift. Once the gifts were in sight their faces grew with excitement and lit up with wide smiles. As soon as they opened them up to find they now had their very own Bible, the room was filled with screams of joy!