World Cup Time!

So much has happened these last five weeks. From chopping wood to running different sports with the kids, we have kept extremely busy. Each day we have done a variety of things. Some mornings we get a chance to do some practical things to bless the Village of Hope. If I haven’t explained, the Village of Hope is the group we have been working with here. They are a farm which has a baby unit, were 9 TB or HIV infected kids live. They also work in the community, running sports clubs in the townships and just caring for the people. It has really been amazing to see how much effect they have on this community. Anyway some days we are able to just help them, by cutting down trees, or working in the baby unit. However, the major part of our outreach has really revolved around the kids in the community.
For the world cup the kids here got a long holiday, which means there are a lot of kids with nothing to do and no one to really look after them, or feed them for that matter. So in Grabouw, were we are working, they put together a task team to provide things for the kids to do during their holiday. The majority of that program is us. We run a day of different sports, from soccer and dodgeball to volleyball and netball, Monday through Friday. The kids come and just have a blast hanging out and playing with us. It is also really cool to see how much they grow as we continue to pray for them and share with them, about Jesus or often even just simple life skills. Then when the day is finishing up around 3 we feed them and watch the four o clock world cup match. They don’t always seem interested in the game but it is nice to have a time to just hang out and talk to them.
Then on Saturday we run a program called soccer Saturday. All the kids from the different programs come and play soccer. The younger kids can get there face painted and the girls play netball. This week I got an opportunity to lead the whole day with one other guy from our school. It was a little stressful but in the end it went really well. The kids really seemed to enjoy themselves and we received a lot of positive feedback. On top of these activities we also get chances to go out in the community with a group called Tembacare.
Tembacare is a medical unit that helps HIV and TB patients. They work in the townships to get people tested, provide medications, pray for people and to really just love the people. In Grabouw there is only one day hospital for all the people. So if you don’t have money or transportation you can’t get to a hospital at all during the night, and you cant stay over night. This unit gives a place for the really sick to stay, and also goes out and checks on patients to make sure they are taking their medications. For us going out with the Tembacare workers and praying for the people was really an eye opening experience. We got a chance to walk around the townships and really see the living conditions of the people there. It is really sad to see how so many people are forced to live.
The experience in South Africa so far has really been amazing and it continues to blow my mind how much of a difference people can make by just serving and caring for others. I ask that you continue to pray for us, specifically for health and good weather, as we are in the middle of winter and many in our group are sick, including myself. Thanks and God bless.
PS In case you saw or heard a few of us also got an opportunity to go to some world cup matches. We often only get a day off a week to see the sites but thankfully we have not failed to utilize those days. We have been able to visit Robben Island, climb Table Mountain, see France vs Uruguay, and for me England vs Algeria. It has really been an added blessing from God and I am so thankful.