...in all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. (Isaiah 63:8b-9a)
Hello everybody! What an insane week this has been... our days were full of some pretty amazing experiences:
Monday (04.06)
The youth were all still on their holiday break from school, so we decided to do community outreach projects. A big group of the guys went out into the streets of Lyndhurst to pick up trash. They ended up meeting a lot of people throughout the afternoon - it was really cool to hear how excited they were that God used something as ordinary as picking up trash to reach people. The girls and I stayed back at the church and we made encouragement cards for the local police department and the staff at a nearby hospital. The things we did were very simple, but it was a really good afternoon.
Tuesday (04.07)
We took our day off to get some much needed rest. We relaxed in the morning and then went to see a movie later in the afternoon.
Wednesday (04.08)
Wednesday was probably the busiest day that I have had here. I woke up early to get ready for our ladies cell group. We finished up our Daniel study - it was such an awesome study! I feel like I learned so much from being in with that group of women.
After our Daniel study we went to the orphanage for the afternoon. I brought a big bag of beads so we could have a craft time with the kids. It was so cute to see them squeal with delight when they would finish one of their little bracelets or necklaces. They would put on their jewelry and model it for us all. Some of the younger kids had a really hard time understanding the concept that you had to hold both ends of the string so the beads wouldn't go flying off. We had a few "tragedies" accompanied by big alligator tears, but by the time we were done each child had a new treasure and they wore them proudly. Even some of the care givers at the orphanage came and joined in with the beading festivities. It was a sweet time at the orphanage...
We left straight from the orphanage to go feed the homeless with our youth in downtown Johannesburg. We got there about 6p.m. and when we walked into the church we were overwhelmed by the amount of people sleeping there. There were people in air ducts, cupboards and hallways. It was a little overwhelming at the beginning, but God gave us the grace we needed. We met as a large group to pray over our evening and then set out to deliver the food. We made five different stops throughout the night. At each stop a line would form behind the food truck and we would give each person a cup of soup and 5 pieces of bread. After the line subsided, we each took a meal and went looking for people who were too ill or weak to make it to the line. We met a lot of people and were able to sit and spend time talking with them. Tessa and I had a really good conversation with a man named Alfred. We were able to spend about a half an hour talking with him on the sidewalk. The whole time we were with him little mice were scurrying around us, but again, God gave us the grace we needed. It was a really cool experience; most of all, I enjoyed seeing our youth serve other people. Like I've said before, they are really starting to see that God had called us to be His hands and feet....
Thursday (04.09)
We woke up really early to go to Wits University (pronounced "vits") with a couple of missionaries that serve there. We spent a good part of the morning prayer walking around the campus and then we met up with some students. Later in the afternoon we went to the Christian Club's weekly meeting. It was really encouraging to see how passionate many of the students are and how God is moving on that campus. We had a really good day there and we were able to link up with a few of our youth that attend Wits.
One of the hand-on missionaries in Edenvale, Nikki, had a birthday on Thursday so we spent the evening celebrating with her!
Friday (04.10)
We went to the Good Friday service at LBC... The service was really unique - there was no sermon - instead they read many different passages about Christ and the crucifixion. We sang a lot of worship songs and then shared in the Lord's Supper. The Lord's supper truly has taken on deeper significance in my time here. It really hit me again on Friday how truly amazing it is that our God came to this earth and died for our sins so we may KNOW HIM! Wow!
Saturday (04.11)
Saturday was the first day that we did not have something going on at the church, so we were going to try to get some rest in. However, we ended up spending the day with a couple of other missionaries. We were able to go to the lion park again, I don't think I will ever get enough of playing with those baby lion cubs! And then after we went to see High School Musical on stage in Joburg. Amanda was dying to see it, so I went along.
Sunday (04.12)
What a memorable Easter! Church was really good... the interim pastor gave a really good sermon about how the gospel is not, "come to Jesus and everything will be better," but rather, "come to Jesus - life will still be full of challenges - but he will be with you!" It was really cool to hear him talk about the abundant life available to us in Christ. There were 2 baptisms... The two men that were baptized told their stories in front of the congregation. It was really amazing to hear how seriously they were taking this step in their faith - they both spoke about how when they were lifted out of the water they were making a commitment to walk with Christ in new life!
After church, Phyllis and Tad had a big Gumbo party. We helped them cook and set up to feed 25 people. They had a bunch of the missionaries here in Joburg over! It was such a good afternoon - it really felt like we were able to celebrate the day with family! I don't think I will ever forget this Easter!
We are leaving tomorrow for 6 days. We will be at a meeting, but I will try to write again as soon as I can!!!
With Love,
Jarah
"Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you." John 20:21
