Ministry

Originally posted on 9/24/08

Monday was our first day of ministry here in JBay. It was exciting and overwhelming all at the same time. I will be working at Ithemba which is an after school type program for kids ages anywhere from 3-15. The young kids are there all day long and the older ones come after school. However, we're learning that school isn't really a place of learning and education for most children. Our role at Ithemba is to just love on the kids and we're going to eventually be leading the lessons, games, crafts, and songs. For now we're just seeing what the ministry is all about and what their main needs are.

As soon as we walked into Ithemba children started jumping on us. The kids were just so excited to see us and play with us. The first thing we did was meet with the director and get a feel for the vision and find out what they want us to do. Afterwards, we went outside and played games with the kids and just let them hang all over us. It was really cool to see just how hugging one kids would brighten their face. A lot of the kids at Ithemba come from families who don't care about them or from households run by their sibling because they lost their parents to AIDS. It's a sad reality in the majority of their lives but that's why we're here.

This is unlike any mission experiencs I've had because it's all about building relationships adn showing the love of Christ thorugh that. A lot of the kids know about Christ but they don't have many people showing them the love and hope of Christ. They lack the hope found in the relationship because most of the people around them are hopeless and speak that into their lives. Ithemba is just a place of hope and refuge for the kids. The 3-5 leaders that run the place are amazing and speak truth into their lives daily. They just love these kids and want to keep them off the streets. It's encouraging to see them pour into them but I know that they are burnt out and tired, they need help. They have anywhere from 60-120 kids and there is ussually 3-5 adults to care for them. It's not a good ratio, so they're excited about the help.

I don't know exactly what my role looks like yet, other than to just love on them, smile, make them laugh and just be there. I was able to help teach them math yesterday which was good but hard to see how far behind they are. The more time we spend at the minsitry the more I'll be able to see what God wants me to do. For now, I'm just there to love like Christ and be a light in the darkness.
I'm hoping to build relationships with both the older and younder kids but the group I'm working directly with is the older group, ages 10 and up. God has given me a heart for the older kids and I'm looking forward to learning about their stories and being a mentor to them.

I just ask that you'll continue to pray for the children. It's a struggle to have conversations right now because of the language barrier but I'm trying to learn. God can overcome anything so I know that this won't hold us back from minstering. Just pray that Christ will recieve glory in all things...

More to come later about more ministry oppurtunities. Just know that God is working in JBay and your prayers are being answered.