It was a wet goodbye Tuesday morning at MCV as
the rain and tears flowed freely. We had
reached the end of our two week stay and it was time for us to move on. We had
a wonderful send off of prayer and gifts, and of course, saying goodbye to the
children. You could sense the bittersweet realizations of just how much those
kids meant to us and how much we meant to them. We left with plenty memories to
take home. Like people finishing the construction of a playground till all hours of the night with headlamps
just to get it done on time, or spending our days in the sun painting a local church and pre-school, or
taking care of houses so the mothers could have a day off, and all the time
spent with the children. As we left I realized that those joyful children may
have had a bigger impact on us than we did them. It would be unfair and just
wrong if I left out one of the coolest parts about our time in White River.
Thursday night taco nights at Rich and Lynn Hodge’s house!! These two amazing
people not only fed us delicious tacos, but also invested in each and every one
of our lives and showed us a love that could only come from God. To top it all off, we where lucky enough to
go on a real African safari in Krueger National Park, an unforgettable
experience for sure.
It’s a strange to think where the time has gone
as we now find ourselves here in Johannesburg with only a few days left of our
time here in South Africa. We’re staying in a missionary hostel called “Angel’s
Rest” which is a perfect place for some much needed RNR and also some time
de-brief our journey over the last five months. Over the next couple of days we
get to reflect on what God has done in our lives since day one. Today we talked
about where God has taken us spiritually during this time. I realized just how
far He has brought me and I explained it a little like this:
Five months ago I was walking in darkness. On
that plane headed to Belize I wasn’t even sure if God existed. My time spent in
Belize was one of realization. Everything I heard was new to me, I was having
light bulb moments left and right. Reading my Bible and praying felt like
totally new and exciting concepts. I felt like a sponge, soaking in everything
I could. I accepted Jesus into my heart when I was nine but my time in Belize
was the real beginning of my relationship with Him who has more love for me
than I could ever have imagined. Belize was like reading a story about God and
His goodness, and once we got to South Africa I got to see the story unfold
before me. His goodness and mercy was being spilled everywhere we went. He
brought us to places we never thought we’d be.
Outreach was different than lecture phase but exactly what I needed. I
got to put into practice everything I learned. However God continued to work on
my heart all the more. He’s shown me His love and I’ve gotten to explore it and
I’ve found out just how indescribably important it is. It’s the answer to
everything, for me and everyone in this world!
Thank you for listening and thank you for your
support, we have loved being able to share our hearts and experiences with you.
We love that you have been following our blog, and your support has been more
valuable than you know. Thank you! With love from South Africa,
~ Joshua Duft
YWAM DP 2011 September School
No comments:
Post a Comment