A time for everything

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under Heaven. -Ecclesiastes 3:1

 

As I write this, I’m sitting in a cozy chair in the corner of our living room, listening and watching the rain pour here in Heidelberg, South Africa. I have never fallen in love so fast with a place, and sadly I have to say goodbye to it tomorrow. It honestly feels like home; the community, the ministry, and our sweet host family. 

 

In every country we go into with the mindset to serve, just as Jesus did. That’s what we are called to do, not just this year, but throughout our lives. What we didn’t know when arriving here, is how much this community would serve us. There is a time for everything, and God gave us a sweet time of peace, rest, joy, and receiving. What a sweet way to end this season of life, before heading into the next. 

 

Since arriving here, we have hit the ground running and truly haven’t stopped! We knew going into South Africa that we only had a short amount of time here, so we wanted to soak in as much as we could in our short 2.5 weeks. And oh man, did we ever jam pack everything! Our days have consisted of ministry from 9-3 at both Heidelberg Christian School and Charis Bible College. Most days I was able to help in the 7-8 year olds classroom and what a treat that was! Then as a team we would do sports at the end of the day for the students, which ranged from volleyball to cricket! Some of my favorite memories from this time have been playing sports with these sweet kiddos. 

 

On Thursdays we did outreach with the Bible College students and that was also a major blessing! The first week I went with some ladies to a Safe House for women, and while it was very heavy, it was also beautiful to see how God spoke to those women. The second outreach I was apart of was a children’s outreach in a nearby community. This one was bittersweet. The children truly steal your heart with those beautiful smiles and eyes, and you never want to leave them. The joy they have is truly contagious. While we were there we sang songs, told stories, played games and helped serve food. But what broke my heart was seeing how small the portions of food were for these sweet babies-with some this being their only meal of the day. It’s one thing to hear about children not getting enough food, it’s another to witness it. The ladies who started this for the children run it with their own money, and are such incredibly hard working women who are showing the love of God to everyone around them. It’s a harsh reality check. The simple things we take for granted really aren’t that simple. 

 

Aside from ministry, we have been blessed beyond measure by the college students and the community of Heidelberg! It’s a pretty small community, so everyone knows when a bunch of Americans are in town. We spent some nights either in small groups reading the word, eating a yummy meal together, worshipping together, playing games, or having an authentic cookout. We have been so loved by them, which makes it harder to leave. We thought we were coming to be a blessing, when in reality they have blessed us beyond measure. 

 

On top of all this goodness, our ministry hosts have loved us so so well! They love us as their own, and have gone above and beyond to make sure we get in all the fun adventures that we can! They took us on a safari which has been one of my favorite days so far on the race!! It was truly a dream to see these animals in their natural habitat! They took some of us to an ostrich farm; they are both creepy and mesmerizing haha! Also they are huge!! They also took us to the most southern point in Africa and it was breathtakingly beautiful!! And then the next day they took us to see the penguins of South Africa!! I mean they are truly so kind and selfless! And then to make it even better, on our drive back from the penguins, they surprised us with a dinner with friends and a night with sheep where we got to hold a baby lamb! Oh I almost forgot, they also planned for us to ride horses in the town! So so kind!! They have been truly the hands and feet of Jesus, loving us so so well!! 

 

My teammate and I, multiple times, would sit on the grass at school before sports and soak in His goodness. We would sit in awe and wonder that this is our life, and that we simply get to just be blessed by this community. Thank you Jesus. 

 

Also Heidelberg is absolutely beautiful! I highly recommend visiting if you want to come to South Africa in the future! 

 

We head tomorrow to our last country, Lesotho! Prayers please for safe travel as it will take a total of 2 days to get there by buses and vans. I also would love continued prayers for my transition into America and home. I already know that there will be days that will be more difficult than others, and so I just ask for your grace and patience if I don’t see you right away. I land in America November 22nd, but have plans with someone until December 4th! I land in Oklahoma December 4th and will be in town for a short time to say hi, and then I am planning on retreating for a while to Colorado to visit my family. If I don’t see you in that period of time, please don’t take it personally. I’m using this good chunk of time after this season to decompress, visit family, process everything that happened over this past year, and pray and plan for what God has for me next! I can’t wait to see you all! Love you!!