Blessed

Over the past few days I have been reminded so many times of how blessed I am. We have spent a lot of time going into the community to pray for the people and to invite them to different things that are happening on the base. My heart continues to break over and over again for the people in this little part of Jeffrey's Bay. Here are just a few stories of things that we have seen in the past few days.

On Thursday we went out to invite people to come to a community worship service. The first place we went was up on this hill where a lot of the street kids hang out during the day. After translating everything that they were saying it turns out that most of the kids are addicted to drugs and sniffing paint. A lot of the kids look much younger than what they actually are because of how it messes up their brain and spinal cord. At our bonfire there was a kid who we all thought was maybe 6 or 7 but he is really 16. Most of the kids live on the streets by themselves with no idea where their parents are.

So after talking with them we walked down the hill and ended up talking to the lady who just starting bawling right away because a little 10 year old kid she knew was just killed last week when some guy came and tied him up then slit his neck. soo she started bawling then asked us for money but we couldnt give her anything because she reeked like alcohol.

We got back and had a worship service thing and after that I was sitting with this other lady who just grabbed on to me and started bawling. So I was like oh here we go again.. so after I pretended to understand her she grabbed my hands and would not let go of me because she was so desperate for money.

It has been so challenging living in the middle of all of this poverty. Our base is in the middle of a city that is full of people who need Jesus. Even after living on this base for 3 months, I hope that I never become used to the conditions here. I hope that each day, my heart will continue to break for these people here and the life that they are living. Even amongst all of the pain here, there is hope which comes only from God.

On a more positive note, It's the weekend!! I was starting to think that this week was never going to end! Every day is so busy! Today it was so nice to have the day off to relax. This weekend was great for getting to know the other people on the team better. I'm very ready and excited for the lectures to start next week. This morning we did our laundry! What a experience! We did our laundry by hand in the sink which was hilarious since none of us knew what we were doing. We hung out all of our clothes to dry outside and left for the "mall". While we were there it started pouring and all of our clothes got wet. Now, our dorm has clothes hanging everywhere to dry.

I'll post more pictures and stories soon! Remember- you are BLESSED!