Molo (hello in Xhosa, the language of the children's home)!
Team South Africa has fallen in love with the children of the home here in Matatiele. We arrived around 10am on Monday and have spent the last 4 days playing, singing, telling bible stories and doing crafts. There are about 64 children in the home and each one has a story that has broken our hearts. The youngest is just over 2 weeks old and the oldest is about 16 years old. It has been really cool to see God use our team and the gifts he has given each of us. Each person connects with a different age group. It has been such a blessing to be able to just love on the children. God has been doing amazing things through our team. We are so excited to have been used by him here!
Each morning we are greeted with the biggest smiles and hugs. The little ones that are 5 and under chatter away in Xhosa, while the older children speak English very well. It has been funny for the team to try and say many of the words or names because Xhosa is a click language. In fact the X indicates a click!
We had the opportunity to take the older kids out and about and spend some quality time with them, which was so cool. Tuesday and Wednesday we were able to take the kids swimming and they loved that! Today we took them shopping for some of their school uniforms. That was fun too!
Our host, Liz, has created a great environment at the home. The children love to sing songs about Jesus, the ones they know and the songs we have taught them, and they love to hear bible stories. Liz is a wonderful woman and does so much for the children in the home and in the town of Matatiele. We have been encouraged by her spirit and perserverance. Pray that God would bless her in her ministry here!
Tomorrow we head back to Bulwer and will be working with Chris and Lyndell at HNO for the rest of our stay in South Africa. For our faithful prayer warriors (we are so thankful for you!) here are some specific prayer requests:
1. Leaving tomorrow. The kids have already been asking when we will be back and asking why we can't stay longer. We will be sad and they will be sad. It will definitely be hard. Especially since we can't promise them anything. It's incredible the bond that you can create in just 3 1/2 days!
2. Safe travels back to Bulwer.
3. Our ministry at HNO. We will be dropping off toys to children, possibly doing some prison ministry, visiting the huts and spending some time in the disabled center. There will be other ministry opportunities that will most likely come up as well.
4. Continued safety and health, as well as team unity.
Thank you for your love, prayers and support!
Di Yago Tanda (we aren't sure of the spelling, but this means "I love you" in Xhosa),
Team South Africa
PS- Phil says: I love you mom!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Oh wow! It sounds like everything is going so good! Your guys are in my prayers and thoughts constantly! Especially when I see my beautiful butterfly bracelet KB:) Enjoy your last day with the kids! Love you KB!!
Lynsey
So cool! I am praying for all of you and I hope everything goes well back at Bulwer. Love you, Kels!!!
What a blessing you all are! We're praying for you. Love you tons Katie!!!!
Of course, we have been checking your blog daily, and it is so wonderful to hear about your service and the kid's responses. It brought me to tears, thanks to all of you for making the sacrifice to go there. I will continue to pray for all of you and your impact there. Phillip, we are very proud of you and love you lots.
Really enjoyed reading the blog of last week and how your hearts went out to the children. We are praying for your time in the village and looking forward to the next blog! We love you!
Post a Comment