This is three Enviroloo that we saw at Lekoa Secondary School.  These are like the ones that St. Francis is sponsoring to save children’s lives. Children often fall in the old outhouse type that are terribly unstable causing children to fall into the toilet pit and some dying.  The team witnessed and used these Enviroloo first hand.  They will be beginning the creation of one in a city called Nobody, South Africa on Jan 19, 2017.

 

This Monday, January 16 blog comes two days late due to internet connection .  We returned to the Lodge of Dreams after our day of short-term mission work to an African thunderstorm that knocked the power out off and on.  We had the team dinner by way of kerosene lamps.  The rain was very strong and the thunder very loud.  The blessing is that South Africa really, really needed the rain.  Last year was a very dry year for South African farmers. We got initiated by South African thunderstorm you could say. And we are thankful for our stable electricity.

Our first visit was to Gwenani High School. We first learned that there was actually prayer in public schools unlike in America. Pastor Jonathan, the pastor at Lighthouse Church on Del Kramer campus, comes and speaks to the children about God at least once a month.  There were nearly 450 students.  All dressed in neat, clean school uniforms. They stood in a well-mannered and interested way when Dr. Blessman and Jonathan talked during this assembly.

Pastor Jonathan speaking and praying with the Gwenani High School Students.

 

Two of our high school team members, Sydney and Sarah were asked to speak a few words to the students at this morning assembly.  They greeted the Gwenani students and told them what grade each were in.  The kids were shocked to learn Sydney and Sarah’s ages.  The students at Gwenani gasped when they learned they were 17 and 18.  We came to learn that the students thought they were 24 or 25.  Students can go to school at Gwenani until age 24 or 25.

A Days for Girls outreach and Shoe Minstry was next and shoe outreach at Lekoa Secondary School.  The Days for Girls program is stronger than ever with Rene Blessman providing amazing leadership – she EMPOWERS girls and gives them hope!!  Young women are given resources for their monthly cycle and spoken to with education, love and encouraged to have big dreams for their lives and respect for themselves.  Rene had the other team members assist her in her strong mission of empowering and educating strong Christian girls. It was a delight to see St. Francis sewing of the Days for Girls kits being distributed along with a picture of the women that made them from St. Francis.

We also met with chief of the village of the school we did the shoe ministry for and of Del Kramer Campus.  We found out that he is chief over 20 villages with about 10,000 people in a village. This was an honor.  The school gave us soda and biscuits (cookies) as refreshment afterwards which we know was a great sacrifice for them.

The team also washed feet and fitted and gave new shoes to students. We took the time to speak and lift them in prayer.   The students were very moved by the washing of feet and many of them had very worn shoes and were delighted to receive new shoes.

The group then went to Del Kramer Campus where some stayed and played with the children and half of the team went to a Medical Center – team members were given opportunity to sit with a nurse, a physical therapist, and also nurse that specializes in diabetes.

Del Kramer is a remarkable center for children.  The center serves 105 orphaned and vulnerable children.  And is as well a farm and is the location of Lighthouse Church.  Empowerment of children starting with food for the brain and body.  Each child is given a hot meal after school and washes their hands before the meal and washes their plates after the meal.  The center works to give these children skills, education, and much love.  The team went to Del Kramer on Monday and Tuesday.  No sense of “wanted handouts” lives here.  Empowerment of children does!!

Chris provided his juggling skills to the children; and Pat organized, with her gifted skills, crafts and games for the children and the team played with the children.  They observed Meals from the Heartland meals being fed to the children.

We arrived home to crockpot dinners that various team member put together;  we have been having a salad bar each day.  This day we came home to stillwarm crockpots of lasagna (even with the power outage) that Larry, team member had watched over during the day.  It was cozy eating warm lasagna with 19 team members and our host in a kerosene light, thunderstorm night.

We could say that by the end of Monday, with all that we had experienced, that the day felt like Thursday.  That is the way with intensive short-term mission work.