First Week

Originally posted on 1/16/09

This week has been kind of crazy with ministry but it's been really good... Monday was a day of cleaning at Ithemba so that we can get everything ready for the kids. Tuesday and Thursday morning we had First Aid training with the Ithemba team then went to our morning ministries. For house visits, I met Hester and we sat with her and 2 of her friends for a long time. She is an amazing, sweet woman that our house visit teams from last semester got really close to. We are going to continue visiting her and just encouraging her. I'm really excited to get to know her better; I can already see she has an amazing heart. The other morning I spent in Humansdorp at Virginia's. Oddly enough though, Virginia isn't going to be back until March. So Monica, her daughter, is taking over the crèche. There weren't many kids there this week because it's still holiday until Wednesday. That gave us the chance to help her clean all of the rugs and wipe down the crèche so that it will be ready when all the kids do get there. Afterwards, we just held the few kids that were there and loved on them.

The rest of my time this week has been spent at Ithemba, cleaning and planning for this year. We are changing how we are teaching the kids and also how we are doing the bible stories with them. I'm still going to be with the older kids, but we are splitting the class in half so that we aren't teaching the kids who are at different levels things that are beyond what they've been taught in school. We're also making it a point to schedule in time to help them with the homework that they are given so that they are keeping up with their school work.

We're still planning out some of the curriculum and activities but I already just have great hopes and expectations for things this semester. God wants to do something big here, and I fully believe He's going to. It's been really encouraging to see Mama, Lusanda, and Nomsa regaining their joy and love for Ithemba. It was easy to see within the first few days of being back there. We don't know exactly what happened that sparked it but our team is just excited about the things God is doing. He's obviously already at work there and I know that it's only the beginning. Keep praying for that renewed energy and passion for Ithemba and what it stands for in the lives of all that work there. That is going to make a huge difference in the lives of the kids. They can see the heart behind what people say and do more than we think or even notice. I'm praying that they see this change and are encouraged by it also and just feel God's love in that. Another thing to pray for would be my team. We have already been hit with sickness, and we got hit pretty hard. It's already hit 6-7 of our 13. Most of us have recovered rather quickly but it's draining and discouraging so just keep our health in your prayers. Thank you for continually interceding for my team and the people of Jeffreys.