Thursday - South Africa Update

Today we split into two teams for most of the day. It was a great day and Reagan Fromm and Will Estes will take your through what each team experienced.

   Red Hill

Today began a lot like yesterday in Red Hill. Lynsey, Brooke, Emily Paynter and Harbin, Wayne, Jim, Nancy, Autumn, and I went door to door educating people about tuberculosis and how to prevent it. It was an extremely cold and cloudy day, so I was honestly expecting most people to stay inside their houses and not be willing to talk to us because they wanted to keep warm, which is a very difficult thing to do inside a tin house with zero insulation. Surprisingly, most people invited us inside their homes and were very open to what we had to tell them. It amazed me that people were so friendly and willing to talk and share the warmth of their homes even though we were a large group of foreigners that couldn't speak their language. I know that if a group as large as ours showed up at my door with a pamphlet and a load of questions I would be trying to plan my escape strategy rather than bring them into my home to have a conversation. We saw some really amazing things on our walk through Red Hill; a five inch colorful locust and a man carving intricate animal figurines out of stones on the ground were only a couple of the interesting things we got to see.

Our group also got the "privilege" of getting to spend the entire day with Roxy, an aggressive black and white pitbull covered in ticks that decided she wanted to hang out with us instead of her owner. It was definitely a challenge trying to talk to a woman about TB when Roxy sprinted inside her home, knocked over all of her kitchen chairs, and chased her cat up a tree. We probably spent more time chasing Roxy out of people's homes than we did talking about TB, but I think our group ended up getting a great lesson on patience and persistence.
After we went door to door, we got to go into the Red Hill Clinic for lunch, where we got to have our second game of "benchball", a game that our group created. It was great to see everyone's fun and competitive side come out. I think it's great how quickly our group has been able to become comfortable enough to kick a half-deflated ball at each other's faces(...sorry Jim, it really was an accident) and still be able to laugh about it later. We even got the Living Hope staff that works in Red Hill involved in the game, which was a lot of fun. After lunch was over, we headed to the church at the upper section of Red Hill to run Teen Club. Before the teens arrived, some of the younger kids came to the church to play and get some food(egg salad sandwich and an orange). I had the opportunity to meet Michelle, a beautiful four year old girl that could speak hardly any English, but wouldn't stop holding my hand or smiling at me the entire time that she was there. All I could think about the entire time I was holding her was that I hoped that life wouldn't break her smile, despite the difficulty of life in a township and the fact that her culture that practically screams at her to do things that will trap her in a life that is less than what she deserves. Though I was thinking about this, I decided it's more important to think about today. The fact that she was at the church today showed that she is learning about God and what he can do for her which gives me hope for her future, and all the children and teens that I've been meeting this week. I know that tonight I will be keeping Michelle and all the other people I have met this week in my prayers; it's going to be a cold night in Red Hill. Near the Clinic, there is a saying painted in an outdoor pavilion that reads, "God is real in Red Hill". Despite the cold winds and the extreme examples of poverty , I know that I felt God today in Red Hill, and I think everyone else in our group did too.
- Reagan Fromm

Masi

Going to bed last night, we already knew we were in store for a REAL South African winter day. As we woke up, the wind was howling and the clouds were out. It was not the sunny morning we were used to. Rain was an extreme possibility for today, but this did not stop us from starting our day. Today was definitely different than any other day we have had. We split into two groups to double up our mission work for the day. All the girls and the older men went to Red Hill to continue asking and passing out information about TB. Christian, Ryan, Alex, Sam, and myself headed to the township of Masi to rebuild a mans roof. On our way to Masi, we were discussing how dreary the weather looked outside. Despite how things looked, we spotted a rainbow going across the sky. God's presence was immediately felt because rainbows are such a wonderful creation. An old English author by the name of Thomas Browne once said, "All things in life are artificial, for nature is the art of God." Cape Town is a naturally beautiful place, even when the weather outside appears to be nasty. This rainbow was definitely the art of God. We had to make a stop at Living Hope on the way to Masi to pick up, Kevin, a fellow missionary who would be joining us in rebuilding the roof today. Kevin was from the United Kingdom and had spent 8 months in Cape Town last year. He was now back for another 3 weeks of missionary work. He did not just bring himself, he brought his entire family consisting of his wife and two young children (4 & 5 years of age). It really made me think about the sacrifices he was making, not only for himself, but for his entire family as well.

We arrived to Masi. At first, we had a few troubles getting our work started because the mans house we were working on was at home when he was not supposed to be. We got him to go stay at the neighbors house and our work was underway. Personally, this was my first experience in any type of construction and it was amazing to me that my first experience got to be in South Africa on a mission trip. Only half of the roof was able to be finished today due to a down pour. His roof was made out of tin, metal sheets and we were doing them layer by layer. We could see the rain was coming and by time we got the third layer done was when the rain began. If you want my opinion, I'd say this was great timing. If we had not been determined to get the third layer on before the rain came, then all this mans belonging would have been drenched. As it says in Titus 3:14, "Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives." Today, we served the Lord once again. We got our hands dirty and worked hard. We were all freezing. The wind was constantly blowing sand in our faces, yet nobody complained and nobody whined. We put up with the cold, windy, and rainy weather. We did not let this stop us from getting things done. We proceeded to get as much done as we could before the rain came in. We will return to tomorrow to finish our job. If weather permits, we will be leaving this man of Masi with a brand new roof. God Bless.

-Will Estes