Expect the Unexpected

Today marked our first official day of mission work with Living Hope (livinghope.co.za). The theme for the day certainly focused on responding to the unexpected. It started early this morning after breakfast. We had planned on leaving at a certain time, but were unexpectedly contacted as we were washing dishes and asked to come to the Living Hope facility for an orientation and briefing meeting. This was 30 minutes earlier or so than we had expected to leave, but we were flexible and just left early. I was very impressed with the organization and structure of the Living Hope ministry, and I want to devote adequate time and space to that, so I will bring a full description of the ministry on a later post (most likely after we return home, or at the earliest, this weekend).

Following the meeting, we drove over to the township in which we will be working for the week, Masiphumelele (Ma-c-pu-ma-lay-le). Masi is one of the townships in which Living Hope is working, and they base their operations out of the Masiphumelele Baptist Church there. Our morning consisted of assisting with the preschool aged children who come to spend time there in the morning. These children come with their respective preschools from within the township to the church, where a social skills volunteer working with Living Hope (who is actually a resident within the township) lead a time of games, but also sharing the story of Jesus and the paralyzed man, and singing songs. The great thing about this was being able to see and hear children (ages 2-5) singing and praying (yes the students recited prayers on their own), as well as hearing the Bible shared in another language. This was a great time for our team, because the children just loved on us more than we ever could love on them. They had such a vibrant spirit about them you couldn’t help but just smile and bask in their ability to love without any reservation. I felt like a walking jungle-gym for most of the time, but it was totally worth it.

After lunch, we prepared for the afternoon session which was made up of children and teenagers ages 8-15. This is where we had planned to implement our two-part sessions for the week, one part arts and crafts and one part sports and training. This is another aspect of the planning for the unexpected I mentioned earlier. The culture of South Africa is not like ours. Where we Americans live and die by a set/planned schedule, life is much more simpler here. Most people don’t even wear a watch, and no its not because they use their cell phone. So the teens did not arrive as we thought they would, and the set time and structure was not there as we Americans expected. We had to alter our planning some, but we were still able to get in a great time of soccer instruction with them in the parking lot (there is no grassy area located in the township), and inside some of our team was able to help the students create bags out of bandanas which all the students really loved.

After these scheduled events, the social volunteer from Living Hope for the teenaged group asked us to share a testimony, and it fell to me to deliver it. I had less than five minutes to prepare, so this is another aspect of that planning for the unexpected I’ve been talking about. Back in America it would be nothing for me to share my testimony to any group, but here I had many reservations because I was worried that I would not be able to speak in a way that the students would be able to understand. They are quite good with English, but I didn’t want my good old southern accent to get in the way, or just not being able to speak and use words that they would be able to comprehend. Whatever concerns I had at the beginning were quickly squandered after because they asked questions that showed not only had they been listening, but also they were internalizing some of the things I had shared and were wanting to apply it to their lives. Questions such as, “Did you ever feel like you were alone?” “How do we as a group handle peer pressure here following a moment of a Spiritual high?” “How were you able to grow and be able to say no to temptations that have tripped you up in the past?”

I was just completely blown away by their relationships both with each other and with God. They were such an intelligent group, and their faith was evident. How humbling and encouraging it was to see a group of teenagers being that in tune with their faith. We as a team discussed this tonight in our devotion/debriefing time, and we agree that this is because they have nowhere else to turn to but to their faith. They don’t have the same distractions (you may know them as entertainment/technology), that our children back home have, so they are better able to connect with each other and with God.

God is certainly alive and well here in South Africa. He is doing amazing things here in the lives of these people. These are our brothers and sisters in Christ. They are no different from you or I. We are all a part of the same body. We may speak differently, interact in our culture differently, and share different things materially, but at the core we serve the same risen Savior, and that is what equalizes us. I hope that we all back home realize that, as I have so far here in South Africa.

Maybe this is the unexpected for you, the idea that people on the other side of the world are not different from you or I. Since we don’t see them we don’t realize it, we just resort to what we’ve seen on television or read in the papers. Let me stress that these people are no different from you or I, and that some day we will all be worshipping together at the same table. Expect the unexpected… you never know when God is going to seek your response!

Be Blessed!