Divinely Appointed

I'm not even sure where to begin. The only way I can think to describe our time here is divinely appointed. Our days are so full and rich, and I thank God daily for the opportunity to be here.

This past Sunday we were able to worship with the congregation at St. Philip's, an offshoot of the church of England in South Africa, and then hopped in the car and drove to the smaller town of Wildernis (which is in the wilderness, go figure!). We canoed a while up the river and then got out and hiked up to a gorgeous waterfall. We ate a picnic lunch, and then some of the crazier ones jumped in the freezing water. Eventually, we hiked back down to the canoes and paddled back to the rental place. It was a truly glorious day.

Monday was spent here at Makani, our home base, doing maintenance projects. Tuesday we spent the morning walking around George connecting with people and praying for them. Some intense rain interfered with our afternoon plans, so we spent some amazing time in prayer and connecting with God both as a team and individually.

Today, Wednesday, we visited the children's ward of the local hospital in George. We came armed with balloons, hand puppets, and coloring books...and I'm pretty sure we were a hit! My favorite moment was when a little girl roughly 18 months old with a breathing tube in one nostril ran up to me with her arms outstretched, demanding to be held. Simply precious!

By this afternoon the rain had cleared up enough for us to visit Blanco again. We messed around with the kids for a bit before starting our program about "helping those in need." Johnny did an excellent job narrating the parable of the Good Samaritan while the rest of us acted it out with as much comic relief as we could muster. Even though our time is here is brief, we pray that seeds of Christ's love are planted. As soon as our program was done, a girl about 7 years old jumped into my arms and didn't let go until we left. My best guess at spelling her name is "Bandileen." She kept tugging my arms more tightly around her, and so I sat and held her close while the rest of the team led all the kids through several variations of tag. As I held Bandileen and watched all of the kids running around, I kept praying that they would know God's love and tangible presence, and ask you to echo that prayer with us.

Thank you all for your love and support! We truly feel your prayers and are incredibly grateful for them.

In closing, I'll leave you with a few things I've learned thus far in Africa:

1. God's miracles are evident if you are looking. 
2. If you look left first when crossing the street, you will get hit by a car. 
3. You do not have to speak English to sing Justin Bieber.