Love and Laughter

My heart is overwhelmed as I write this out. I don't even know where to begin. My time here in Vredendal is coming to an end. It hurts. I love the people here. My host family has taken me in as a part of their family. I have seen such a change in them between the first week and now this last week. God is moving and he is growing them! Vian, Arina, and Annari have taught me valuable lessons that will stay with me for years to come. Johann has taught me so much as well. I respect him more than words can say. The Lord really uses him to love and to teach others. He listens and obeys even when it means sacrificing the things he and his family care about.
The friendships that have developed over my time here mean so much to me. Every Wednesday night, we meet with the high school youth group at Johann's church. These kids are absolutely amazing! They have a zest for life that is wrapped up in laughter and a spirit willing to learn more about God. I love them. We also have spent a lot of time with the students of a Bible school that Johann is very involved with. There are five students ranging in age from about 21-33. When we plan time to go the the squatter camps or to a school for a program of singing and games and a lesson, they often times join us and help guide what we have planned out for the afternoon. They are such an incredible group of young people. They have so much to offer and so much love to give. I love and respect them so much.
Our times working on the farm have been unforgettable. My team working in the fields with their workers is a foreign concept to people in this community. Not only are we white people working among the coloured people that are classified as some of the lowest in the community, but we are Americans working with them. With them. Not in front of them. This has opened so many doors! It is such a blessing to be a part of it. God is so good. He has also given us the opportunity to become very close with Francios and Madalie, who own the farm and the fields that we've been pruning, harvesting, and planting.
We have visited a handful of different schools. Each one of them is full of bright kids that longed to be loved. It is not only a fun and wild experience for them to run around with us, but it is also refreshing for the teachers and administrators of the school. Just like in any school in the U.S., there are troubled kids in the classroom..bullies, smart-alecs, interrupters, the shy and quiet ones, the ones that don't care..but when they get to be outside and play!! That is when the real kid in them comes out. Some of the teachers have expressed to me how nice it is for them to see that side of their students. It gives them reason to persevere through the hard days.
Something that we have a team has struggled with is seeing 'the effect.' Some days it feels like we aren't really doing anything life-changing for the people around us. We aren't building houses. We aren't converting people by the dozens. Men still walk around drunk, smoking drugs. Women and young girls and boys still get used and abused. There are still homeless people sleeping outside of the stores and along the side of the road. The crime rate hasn't dropped. But Satan uses our discouragement to try to tear us down. The work we have been a part of and the things we are doing aren't tangible. As an American, that is very difficult to understand. However, being here in Vredendal for these five or six weeks has shown me that even though statistics haven't changed, hearts have. Praise the Lord for that.
We have also been making friends in the squatter camps..just walking around, talking to who ever is standing outside their home and is willing and brave enough to talk to a group of white people walking around. (It's not something that happens very often, so usually when we are talking with a new friend, there will be people off in the distance watching and wondering who? Why? Where? What are they doing here?) The presence of the Holy Spirit has been overwhelming in some of these situations. Prayer is powerful. That is one of the biggest lessons I've learned here. One Wednesday night at the youth group, we were all sitting in a circle. some people were sitting on the couch, a few in some lounge chairs, and the rest of us were sitting in plastic chairs. Me being me..I was leaning back on the back two legs of the chair during most of the evening. I had no idea that almost the whole group had been watching me and waiting for me to fall backwards. Near the end of all of us hanging out, Tayla, one of my favorite girls in the youth, and Megan, the other girl from Colorado, prayed and asked Jesus if He would make me fall out of the chair. I guess in the ten seconds after they finished praying, God did them one better. One of the legs on the chair broke! I feel straight to my back having no clue what happened. Oh gosh, everyyyyyone was laughing their faces off! But I thought, hey, I am okay with God teaching the group how powerful prayer is through my expense, well really, my ego's expense. Ah it really funny. I had no idea Tayla thought it was so funny until we went to visit their school a few days later and she had told alllll of her friends about it. Then she proudly pointed at me and laughed, "This is this girl!!" It took me back to a sheepishly shy middle school feeling, but it was totally worth it seeing her laugh so hard.
Another really awesome opportunity that our whole team had was being involved in the Farm Run! This is an event that happens every year. Churches from all over the community join together and hold bike races, runs, and walks to raise money for the Cohen Group. The Cohen Group is a group of young adults that commit to training and learning the best ways to be there for kids in the schools of Vredendal, similar to a counselor. The teachers in the schools offer themselves up as well, but for the kids with struggles at home or at school, addictions, any type of abuse, and the list goes on..its a lot easier for them to talk someone closer to their age. Their training is through a faith based program, so these coaches (which is what the students refer to them as) are able to pray for the kids and offer them advice and love the way God asks us to. In addition to the races, they have crafts being sold, tons of unbelievably delicious food, blow up jump games, then even had a human foosball blow up game! Another huge focus of the day is the Farm Fun. People are split into even teams..2 adults, 2 high schoolers, and 2 younger kids. Well Cassandra, the one girl on our team from Mexico, and I partnered up and found some awesome kids that wanted to compete. The events for the competition included jumping over hail bays, rolling and running a barrel, wheel barreling your team across a teeter-totter, rolling tires in a straight line, pulling a tractor, kicking a soccer ball through a tube into a goal, knocking down cans with a slingshot, and one of the favorites crawling under a net in a pool of water. It was awesome. People loved that there were people from our team actually participating in all of these with the kids. I couldn't imagine doing anything else. It was a blast! We had high hopes for making it to the top three, but were unfortunately disappointed. But Megan's team got second place! I was glad that my Colorado sister represented our country well.

The Lord continues to give me His favor in so many things. He really has blessed me with these friendships. There will be many tear filled good byes..

Oh the Namqualand Daisies! The Western Cape takes pride in these beautiful flowers that blossom for a very short time during the winter season. White, orange, and yellow flowers drown pastures of grass. But really!! Rolling hills look like an ocean of these things!

Sweet Potatoes!! Yummy. Look at how many :) 

My new little friend, Asa.

Team tire rolling at the Farm Run!

Wednesday night youth group. What goofs!

Johann and Madaleen Engelbrecht

Some of the team with Madalie and Francois!

Prayer Requests:
Please pray for Johann, Madaleen, Annie, and their ministry. Pray that God gives them direction and provides for them financially, physically, spiritually, and through relationships. They are family truly after living out the word.

Lift up the students in the Kingdom Vision Bible School. Their hearts are made of solid gold. Pray that the Lord continues to grow them and teach them more about Him. Also pray for the hearts the people they come in contact with, especially the kids that they make friends with and play with. Pray for their hearts to be opened and their lives to be changed through the wisdom my friends have to offer.

Ask God to continue to bless the harvest of Francois and Madalie's fields. They are hard workers and lovers of Christ; they are some of the sweetest, most giving people I have met here.

Also pray for my team. Satan really is trying to tear a couple of us down- so pray that we surrender it all to the foot of the cross. Pray for discernment and healing as well.