Day 4- productive day!

This morning we left an hour earlier than we normally do in order to attend the community prayer time. I am so glad that I was able to see this. We all filed into this clinic building that is about a 10 minute walk from the family center (where we are at every day). We go in and I see about 50 people sitting down and we end up lining up in the front of the room while two of the staff members at Ethembeni family center read from the zulu bible. As they read, I was observing my surroundings. There were young kids, a few teenagers, and middle-aged and elderly/handicapped people spread throughout the whole room. I think they were wondering why 7 white kids were standing at the front of the room, because we stick out like a sore thumb in this community. But, nonetheless, it didn't keep them from having their devotional time. After the verse was read, one woman starting to sing and the rest followed. It was very beautiful and as everyone sang in isiZulu, we started going around the room shaking everyone's hands. It was a cool experience to do this, and everyone was smililng. I believe the song they were singing was something along the lines of, "We are dancing...." It was short and sweet and I am glad that I was able to see what their community devotional time was like every Wednesday morning.

After this, we walked back to the family center and went into our routine of playing with the kids! But this time about half of us went to finish our map mural. We made so much progress today and nearly finished it all! It looks great!! Some of the staff, Khlaka and Claire, helped us paint today too and it was cool to make it a teamwork effort.

This morning I helped cook in the kitchen again, and while in the kitchen, I had the chance to talk with Nanklanhala. Now, I really struggle with this name and cannot say it for the life of me, and she laughs at me too when I try. So I made up a nickname for her that she approved...I call her "nany" She is 22 year old woman and has such a bubbly personality! She has grown up in Mpophomeni (the community we are in) and it has been so fun to get to know her. As we were both chopping up veggies for the afternoon meal for the kids, we chatted about rap music artists and jammed/danced to songs on her phone! haha.. I also asked her some more personal questions about some of the home visits and mentoring that she does to families in the community, which is part of her job here as a staff at Ethembeni. She said that it is hard sometimes to go to these homes and see how much need there is... She also mentioned how there are sometimes abuse cases dealing with rape and how that is a big issue here. The worst part too, is that the rape is by a family member... I cannot even imagine... It hurts to know that in many of these cases, the kids do not have anywhere else to go to leave there problem. So it was interesting and hard to hear some of the things she talked about, but I was thankful that I was able to hear it from her perspective, from a young woman who has grown up in these streets and is making a difference by mentoring/reaching out to these families.

After this, I had my home visit with my mentor, Samke! Just seeing her today, I can see she is starting to get a little bit more comfortable with me. The language barrier is still tough and made my home visit a little difficult as well. We walked down the street for about 10 minutes until we got to the home. We walked in and sat down and they talked in isiZulu for most of the time, but I heard a few english words in there too. I believe this man (25 yrs old) has lost his parents and grandparents in the past few years and is responsible for 4 younger kids in the household. He has no job and is struggling to provide for the family. Samke wrote down pieces of information that he said in her notepad and I believe that this was some sort of check up that will be brought forth to Ethembeni to see if they can donate money to him and his family. But I am in the process of figuring out how all of this works.

But all in all, it was a good day with playing with the kids and growing in relationships!
Prayer Requests: Pray for our team to be energized for tomorrow (we are getting very exhausted from these long days), to be focused on whatever direction God ultimately has for us during our days there. Many times, our group tries to decide beforehand our plans for the day, but I pray that God will be the ultimate decision maker and that we are open to being flexible to his greater plans. Pray for God to be the center of our focus during our projects and as they are being completed to give all the glory to him and not to the work of our hands... For he gave us the hands and the opportunity to work here!
Thanks you guys! Love and miss you!!!
<3 Jamie