July Mission trip to South Africa
Dear friends and prayer warriors
Christie’s summer is officially over – she started First Grade last Monday, and loves her new class and teacher. Summer for us seemed to pass by in a blur, which I guess is normal when since it’s our busiest season.
Debbie gets a break from writing since I wanted to share a glimpse of what God did on the mission trip that I led in George, South Africa. George is a beautiful town on the South Coast of South Africa. It is where my parents are currently living, and where we spent Christmas with them last year. While there in December, the unrest and violence in AIM’s Kenya location was at its worst, and I met with some local ministry leaders to explore the possibility of forming ministry partners for future mission teams. It was a step in faith and the Lord provided two teams within weeks of that meeting to come to George in July this year.
George is one of the most beautiful parts of the world and is situated in the heart of South Africa’s Garden route.
George’s unfortunate “claim to fame” is the highest death rate of TB patients, a growing AIDS crisis, the highest per capita alcoholism, (which has lead to incredible poverty) and the highest per capita divorce rate in the country.
Our ministry partner in George is Life Community Services, http://www.lifecom.org – an incredible ministry that feeds up to 2500 children per week and shares the love of Christ in ten different centers in and around the George community. As we struggled through the logistics and details of planning these mission trips, it became evident that Satan didn’t want us to be doing this. I came up against many roadblocks and seemingly impossible obstacles. It would have been easy to throw in the towel and cancel the trips, after all they weren’t very big and we could have directed the participants to other locations. But as we prayed, the Lord opened the doors and He brought things together in ways that can only be attributed to His power. So we moved forward in faith, not knowing exactly what the weeks would look like or the precise details of our
daily schedule. I can see some of my (new) dear friends who were on the mission with me smiling as they read this. It is hard to explain and somewhat disconcerting to those paying a lot of money to go on a mission trip, but allowing the Lord a blank slate to work with and let Him be our guide for the week proved to be one of the most incredible experiences. I am a person who loves to plan and schedule weeks in advance, but in this case I had days and sometimes hours of notice, prior to seeing the plan the Lord had for us.
The poverty in parts of South Africa is as extreme as any other part of the world I have seen, but the most troubling aspect is the close proximity of extreme wealth and extreme poverty. We were able to touch many lives in the short time we were there with some help and the love of Christ, the impact seemed so minimal, but the lives that the Lord directed us to, I pray, were impacted eternally.
For me it was particularly moving to be able to return to an area where I worked twenty years ago, and be able to see it from both an American perspective and a South African perspective. Being able to speak Afrikaans proved to be invaluable and I spent quite some time translating and sharing with local people who didn’t feel comfortable speaking in broken English. There were also some humorous moments, when the local people didn’t realize I spoke Afrikaans until I suddenly interjected into the conversation – needless to say they were both surprised and embarrassed.
I have so many stories to share, but not enough space here to share them. But here are some brief highlights:
Our team prayed and felt directed to buy some groceries to give to needy families, we went into the township and were directed to a small shack at the bottom of a hill, as we spoke to the mother of the small family, she broke down and shared how her 14 year old son has TB, but can’t take his medication because she doesn’t have food to give him and the tablets don’t stay down. He has dropped out of school and was essentially waiting to die. The food was a small expense for our team, but helped to get him on his medication. We were able to pray for and encourage the mother and her friends.
Prayer walking in a very large township with about 35 small children, all walking and praying out loud. We walked to a local tavern where nightly there are fights, murders and rapes. These little children raised their hands and cried out to the Lord to close the place down and stop the violence. These children, some as young as 3 years old could teach all of us how to pray and intercede, it was extremely powerful, emotional and challenging. I know our Father in heaven was smiling on the little children as they lifted praised to him.
Seeing little children and parents, who have absolutely nothing in the way of worldly possessions, praising God and constantly smiling and thanking the Lord for his goodness to him
We had to be at a ministry site at a specific time, but I had no idea how to get there. In faith I had everyone get in the car and we headed towards the township. We hadn’t gone more than ½ km and there on the side of the road was a young boy from the main center we were based at. I stopped and asked him where he was going; he didn’t have any plans, just walking. I told him that the Lord had him there to help us, and he jumped into the vehicle and directed me to the ministry site.
A number of our team felt compelled to pray for a particular township called Conville, they constantly felt drawn to pray for the area. Later in the week we found out that a few months before three young girls were brutally murdered by a 16 year old boy at the site where they were praying.
Some of our team members came across a family in desperate need. The parents have no work or food and no milk for the little babe of 3 months! (She was starving and being fed sugar water) The mother got up at 3am to walk to the Clinic, only to be told they didn’t have milk for her. We visited, identified needs, our mission team bought milk and baby clothes, food were supplied, and a local grandmother and ministry leader knitted vests and socks. With lots of love and prayers – God turned a situation around! Mom and baby even went to church on Sunday. We are so privileged to be serving such a wonderful, loving Father! Please pray for baby Latita (her name means “the rising of the sun”), for her health and strength.
So many more stories, but not enough space here, thank you so much for praying for us during this time, the Lord answered your prayers. To God be the glory.
