Out of Africa Missions' Blog

From the Perspective of a Second Go Around

I feel as though this blog should actually be titled something to the extent of, The Brief Memoir of a 21 yr. know-it-all. However, that was too long and a little hurtful, but I digress.

This journey in the Western Cape of South Africa has been absolutely life changing. This country is breathtakingly beautiful and it is filled with people who are even more so, people who we have been privileged and blessed to work alongside of for the last three weeks. As mentioned in our previous blogs we have had the opportunity to work with various organizations who are helping to make a difference in the George area, as well as do a little work in a local township, called Blanco.

Blanco, is where we find ourselves every Thursday, and it is the highlight of my week. As you may have gathered from the title, I have been to South Africa before. Therefore, in my mind, there was nothing that could surprise me, nothing that could throw me off guard, and nothing that could render me speechless. But, when it came to our first Thursday in Blanco I was proven very wrong, which surprised me to say the least. During my last stay in South Africa I lived in a township, so I figured visiting one once a week would do nothing to my know-it-all self. However, upon our very first visit I met the ladies of the town, the ones who are the rocks for the community, the care takers of the sick and elderly, and the parents for all the children who find themselves without. When I met them I was shocked by their care and dedication to and for Blanco, and that has not changed in the least as we are now coming up on our fourth visit. Slightly after I met the ladies, I met little Mario, a small child who I met while helping at a local Creche, or as more commonly known, daycare. Our connection was instantaneous. From the first time his 5 year old little eyes locked onto mine and he climbed into my lap, I was sold. His family life is not perfect. He comes from a home with an alcoholic mother and absent father. He is rarely clean, often hungry, and always starved for attention, but he is my heart. With each visit he becomes aware of our presence in the township and it takes him little to no time to fall into my arms and rest his head on my chest or shoulder. It takes all that I have to not break down and cry for him, every time. Unfortunately, Mario’s situation is not uncommon. Rather, it is the everyday reality of so many Blanco children. It causes me to wonder where God is in all of this. It causes me to wonder why God chose to place me in a loving home with an OUTSTANDING grandmother, and yet little Mario lives in a home filled with unrest and fear. I wrestle with these questions EVERY Thursday, this last Thursday included. However, I also realize something every Thursday in Blanco as well. It usually occurs while my little Mario is resting in my lap against my chest. I realize, God didn’t create the township of Blanco, we did. Through acting out of pride and selfish ambition and fear, by the hand of man townships were made, not by the hand of God. I also realize, that if my heart is breaking for Mario, God’s heart is breaking even more. It is a disturbing realization that also brings complete peace and an absolute hope, that if we, humans, can create Blanco we can also do away with it. We have a choice to destroy or build up, to pursue justice or create corruption, to love others or love ourselves.

These are things I never thought of and never worried about until my visits to South Africa. Last time, in Kwazulu Natal, I spent my days in the township in a perpetual state of anger and confusion and I was prepared to feel the same. However, as usual with life, the more I think I know, the less I actually know. Thus, I spent this Thursday the same way I spend every Thursday, with little Mario in my Lap, thanking God for not giving up on us, for allowing for opportunities for change, and for Blanco.

-Gabby

Options and Kidstop

On Monday we went to Options and Kid Stop. Options is an organization through Youth For Christ which ministers to teen moms and people dealing with HIV. They offer counseling, tests, ultrasounds, and activities for them to find work. These activities include sewing, making jewelry, and making greeting cards. Each woman is invited to partake in these, as well as the support groups in order to help them get back on their feet. Every Monday we go there and help out with general tasks. First we have a Bible
study and worship time with the staff before it opens, and then we get to work. Usually the work involves folding donated clothes, doing devotionals with the ladies, stamping pamphlets, making Bible verse cards, and many other tasks that are needed to keep the place running smoothly. We usually stay till lunch time and then head out to do something else. This week, we went back to Kid Stop.

Our team has been to Kid Stop a few times, and we have really come to know and love the kids there. Kid Stop is another Youth For Christ sponsored organization that helps kids who have dropped out of school in the mornings, and in the afternoons, acts as a safe place for kids to play and get a hot meal. Because all of the local kids are on a three or four week holiday break, they really needed our help keeping them occupied. We arrived just after lunch and began playing with the kids. The girls really love playing with our hair, and some boys even got in on the action too. Soon enough, it was time to serve them lunch, which was soup and bread. We helped serve and clean up the meal. Afterwards, we taught the kids a popular American playground game called “Red Light, Green Light.” All of the kids picked it up fairly quickly and it occupied them for the rest of our time there.

So far, we are all having an exceptional time in George. God has proved Himself to work in ways we could have never seen coming. Each day is a new adventure and a new opportunity to serve and love the people of George. We cannot wait to see what God will do in the short weeks we have left, as it has never ceased to amaze us!

-Rachael

A day out in Blanco

This Thursday morning, our team traveled to the township of Blanco. We had some idea of what our day would look like, since this was our second time in this specific community, but God blessed us with many new experiences during this visit.    

We began the day by leading a Bible study for the women who serve their community by providing for the needs of the people of their township. We read with them Psalm 45 and Proverbs 31, and encouraged them to embrace their role as motherly leaders of their community to the glory of God. Next, we split up into pairs to help at the local crèches within Blanco. Gabby, Julie, and I were able to return to the crèche we worked at the week before, and we were more than excited to see our kids again! A majority of our time with them was spent playing games and singing songs. We were even able to teach them a few songs from our childhood, including “head, shoulders, knees, and toes”. I can’t even describe the joy that their smiles bring to me; I thank God so much for allowing me to spend time with them.

After leaving the crèche, we all met up again to bring a meal to the sick and elderly individuals of Blanco. We prayed over each home we stopped at, after serving them soup and bread. One man that I had the privilege of praying with blessed me so much through his immense faith and attitude towards his circumstances. Although he was blind and bedridden, he was filled with joy and hope, and asked for prayer that he would be a witness for God in his community. His faith was so real and so powerful, I feel so blessed that I was able to pray to God by his side. Lastly, we lead a Bible study for the youth of Blanco on the topic of the body of Christ. We discussed the 1 Corinthians 12 passage on the different members of the body, and encouraged them to use their own unique gifts to glorify God in the church.

Overall, our day in Blanco was both busy and blessed. While I struggle with the poverty-stricken conditions of the community, it is so apparent to me that God is working there! Although these people suffer from illness, lack of food, and uncomfortable living conditions, there is still a hope in the people of the township that continues to amaze me. 

Welcome APU!

Rebekah, Gabby, Melody, Rachael and Madi

We would like to say a massive welcome to our team from Azuza Pacific University in California.  They have been with us for 2 weeks and have gotten well and truly stuck into their work so far.

Here is a blog post from Madi about what they got up to yesterday, 

Today we went to El Sheddai which is a ministry just outside of George that opens its doors to people who have reached the end of themselves and are searching for the next step. Their mission is to provide a place for people to come and experience the love of Christ and get back on their feet. The head of this organization is a guy named Richard and he was who we met first today. They had us introduce ourselves and say a little bit about who we are and where we’re from and then we got the day started. El Sheddai is located on a farm and they are very determined to become self-sustaining so that they will be able to take in more people and provide work for them. We began the day helping clean out the chickens pens that they have. They currently have just over 100 chickens, but their goal is to have 10,000 eventually. It was a very different experience for us and it pushed us to challenge what we see as the norm for everyday life. These chickens are a huge part of this ministry working and we were glad to be able to come alongside them and help them.
After the chickens we helped them fertilize a piece of their land as well as help them transfer some waste that they needed moved. It was very tasking but once we were finished, they kept thanking us for how much it meant to them. It would have taken them much much longer to do what we all did and that was great to know that we could take that load off of them. One of the men that was working with us kept telling us to slow down and be patient with the work. This was foreign to us and we had a goal to just get it done but we had to adjust our thinking and our work ethic in order to be respectful of them. They run on a different speed than we have been used to and at first it was annoying to slow down but it eventually clicked for us because we realized just how fast we’d been working and how fast we didn’t need to be going. He wanted us to enjoy the wind and the sun and once we started doing that, the work wasn’t so daunting. We did eventually get it done but we did it “in God’s time” as Shane referred to it. At the end of the day we had a devotional time with Richard. He shared some very valuable wisdom with us and it was a great end to a tiresome day. God is doing incredible things through Richard and the other staff there. Opening a door to anyone and everyone who has reached the end of themselves and looking for something to grasp onto is not an easy task, but he knows that is where God called him and he is
changing lives because of it. We get to go back tomorrow and we are extremely excited. They are incredible people and have challenged out ways of life in only one day.
We are loving being here, meeting tons of new people, seeing the beautiful land, and experiencing God in new ways everyday. We are so excited to see what is to come over the few weeks and are continually praying that God open our eyes to what He’d want us to see and learn. Thursday we go back to Blanco, a township, and get to reconnect with
the people we met last week. It is going to be good to see familiar faces and continue to help where we can!

Business Academy

The Business Academy is an exit strategy for the players in the Sports Academy.  The aim is to help the young people with the first step of starting their careers. 

We have partnered with various organizations that will give these students exposure to the business world in the form of holiday work and after school positions. There is even the possibility that some of these candidates may be employed permanently. 

We placed approximately 20 young people in holiday positions with partnering organizations in December 2011. We met before their shifts to do devotions with them and to continue building a mentorship relationship that has been established through being involved with OAM Sports Academy.

We are working with Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Africa Skills Village as well as various other bodies to secure bursaries or learnerships for candidates that meet their criteria.

Our aim for 2012 is to continue to assist the students with as much working exposure as possible while they are finishing school and partaking in the Sports Academy. 

The South African 2011 statistics provide a dire outlook as we are facing a scenario where 92% of school leavers will not find a job and over 60% will never be in permanent employment in their lifetime. The reality is that only about one third of our students will be helped through one of the above mentioned avenues. The rest will have to be assisted to either start their own businesses or form part of a business where they can gain experience and have a platform where their skills can be developed in a practical small business environment. We are therefore planning to start a small enterprise that will aim to employ students that leave school at the end of 2012 and give them that first opportunity. This will give them the option to gain experience and find employment that they qualify for or stay on and earn a part of the profits.

We are very excited and thankful that the Lord has blessed us with so many open doors in relation to the Business Academy.  We hope that through the academy we help to get our students onto the right paths after school to ensure they can continue to grow as leaders and make a difference in their families, friendship groups and communities.

We will keep doing business until He returns (Luke 19:13).

Please continue to pray for us! 

First Impressions

New Volunteers!

We are very blessed to welcome Willemien and Jan Peter from the Netherlands who will be volunteering with us for the next 3 months!  We hope their stay here is enjoyable and that God shows himself in their lives in new and amazing ways!

Here is a quick message from them;

Hi there!

This week is my first week as a volunteer for Out of Africa Missions. My name is Willemien, I am 22 years old and I live in Groningen, a city in the north of The Netherlands, where I just finished my History Studies. The next three months I will be part of the team and I am really looking forward to that. I cannot wait to get started and find out how God wants to use me to show his love and grace to others, and how He will use the people I will meet to get to know Him better!

Last week we arrived at the OutofAfrica missions base.  I am here with the purpose to join the work being done here in the city of George and the surroundings.  I will be staying for 3 months and hopefully will learn a lot from the things we encounter.  If possible I will apply some of the things I have learned myself, but most of all I hope to live the promises God gave us and live in his ways.

Jan Peter

Love and Life Skills

Over the past 4 weeks we have been running a love and relationship program with our young people at the Sports Academy. The course is aimed at empowering the young people to make good choices about sex, relationships and everything in-between! The course is being run by Northern Irish volunteers Hannah McCormick and Rory Blake-Knox as well as Suzi McAfee. We run two groups which each meet once a week, on Wednesday nights and Fridays nights at our base Makani. It has been a great success so far with everyone having great fun and enjoying some good conversations!  We ask for your prayers during the last four weeks of the programme that the students continue to have fun and open up, and that, what they hear and experience really makes an impact in their lives.

Ministry in Blanco

Yesterday we painted and prayed. We painted the inside and outside of an elderly woman’s house in Blanco. We ministered to a total 7 people. We had 2 healings yesterday. One woman had severe anaemia yesterday. We prayed for her and were planning to take her to the hospital for a potential blood transfusion, but she had color back and had a lot more energy. We prayed for one child who had an eye infection and it got significantly better a few hours after we prayed. Another man is slowly healing from an infected leg.

Christmas came to George

Last Friday we went to Kidstop. We were told we were a huge blessing for the staff at kidstop. As we played with the kids the staff were able to decorate for Christmas and get other practical jobs done. We played games, taught the kids songs, performed a skit, and danced. But we think the face painting was the favorite of the day.