Just had an incredibly two weeks working with Maceonian Ministries in the "bush" of Rookdale. We weren't completely roughing it, although there were a lot of moderm amenities that we lacked. =) It was a great time, though. I worked with two different teams; the first week, I was with a team from Florida Baptist Church in Joburg, so I was the oddball American girl. =) The second week, I worked with a team from Wakefield Baptist Church in North Carolina. Both weeks we basically did the same things. In the morning, we would go to a primary school (elementary school) and the school would hold an assembly for us. The kids were so wonderful; they were respectful, well-behaved, and so sweet. They would sing to us songs in Zulu and English. I want you to imagine this: 200 African children singing all together, loudly, praise songs to God. That is very typical in the African culture. They would sing, "Higher, higher, lift Jesus higher. Lower, lower, stamp Satan lower." Another favorite of mine from the second week, "Siyahumba ego kanyengwen cosi (we are marching in the light of God). The songs are very fun, and have lots of echos and beautiful melodies. When the children finished singing, they would many times say in unison, "Good morning educators. Good morning classmates." Then we would give our shpiel. Trent (pastor of FBC and friend) and I would play guitar together, and we would all sing some gospel songs. Someone would share their testimony, then Trent or another pastor would share the gospel. It was wonderful. We never gave an invitation, because we were told not to, and because the children want the attention, so they will all raise their hand just to be included. However, we did invite them to our Kids Club in the afternoon, where many came and were ministered to.
Around 2 p.m. we would drive to Rookdale Primary School, a school we had chosen to work with specifically, and give another short assembly. Then the principal would call out the names of 6 children, and they would stay behind. These children were all from needy families, and most were affected in some way by AIDS. Many were AIDS orphans being raised by their older brother or sister or their grandparent. We would drive these children to their homes, three per car, and take a box of food into the home. We would always ask if it was okay if we came in, and the families would always welcome us. Usually the family would bring chairs out for us to sit on and they would sit on the floor. We would follow the same format as an assembly, accept it was much more personal since we were talking to few people. We would share a testimony, then someone would present the gospel. It was amazing; so many people came to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior! No matter what happened, though, we would always say a prayer for the family at the end, and they were always so grateful. It was such a blessing to meet these people. It was challenging at first to go into a stranger's home and tell them about Jesus, but by the end of the second week I was comfortable doing it.
In the afternoons we held our Kids Camp, where we would play games, sing songs, share a Bible story, make a craft, and give out candy. The kids had a blast! The kids in Rookdale don't have Physical Education, so they aren't familiar with typical games. I''ll tell you, they LOVED Dodgeball! We also played "Sheep, sheep, goat!" which is really, "Duck, duck, goose!" and "Simon says". They also loved action songs, like "Spring up o well" and "Father Abraham". They learned the sign languange to classic songs like "Yes, Jesus loves me" and "I have decided to follow Jesus." Not only did they learn these songs, but they remembered them! The Zulu people are an oral people, they learn and retain things that they hear. They are not like us, reading everything and then forgetting it after 5 minutes. =)
At night, we showed the Jesus film in Zulu. It took four nights to show the entire video. The church would show 40 minutes each night, with the final night showing Jesus' crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. We played the video at Greenpoint Baptist the first week and Rookdale Baptist the second. It was really neat to watch; although we couldn't understand the language we knew what was happening because of what we could see. The entire church would be silent. Many of them had never seen a "filim" (film) before; even the kids were quiet. They loved the video, and understood the gospel message. On the final night we would share how to become a Christian, and ultimately had about 60 people over the two weeks accept Christ just from the Jesus film alone.
I was amazed at the simple faith of the people. They are so hungry to hear the Good News. They are already broken, they already know about sin, even if they don't know it's name. One house we went to, we told the lady we were Christians, and she said she knew nothing about Jesus, but she wanted to. After sharing with her, she accepted Christ! Amazing!
Another thing I noticed is that many people just want to be loved. The children were always a little scared at first, but after a while they would open up to you. I would hug on them, and at first they didn't know how to react, but after a few minutes they would be your best friend. One night at the Jesus film, two small girls (about 5 or 6) sat by me on the pew. They kept staring at me and smiling. I grabbed their hands, and they were so happy. They began "examining" me. They would trace their fingers along my arms and look at my freckles. They were absolutely amazed by my arm hair! (African people have hardly any hair on their arms or legs). They just wanted me to hug them and love them. It was so sweet.
Thank you all for your prayers and support. You are investing in Kingdom work, and let me tell you, it's awesome.
I am now in Pietermaritzburg, a town on the eastern coast of South Africa. I'm staying with Trevor and Marily Eayrs, founders of Macedonian Ministries. They are the ones who held everything together these past two weeks. I am staying with them for a week, then I'm off to Durban, another coastal town, to work with Durban North Baptist for a week. I'm not sure about what ministry I'll be doing there, but I will write as often as I can.
I can't post pictures for right now because I'm on a separate computer from my own. I know many of you are dying to see photos, and I will post them ASAP. It will probably be next week.
Unkulunkulu anibosise! (God bless you all!)
