Our day began with Monday Morning worship
which included music and prayers in small groups about all of our family
wherever they may be. The men's morning had started even earlier with Men's
Prayer... We then set off with Audrey and Jimmy from Hands at Work and began
the three hour journey to Share; a rural community serving 60 children. We
arrived and started with worship and a short Bible study of Ephesians 6: 10-18.
The care point at Share is fab for the amazing singing and the funky dancing
led by the care workers. We then split into three home visits...
Lesley, Rosemary, Rob and Alice S went to
visit the home of Rowenna. Following on from the wonderful Maranartha (Come
Lord Jesus) workshop the week before, the care workers found out that Rowenna
and her sister are being cared for by their uncle following the death of their
parents. The visit was to assess whether the other children living at the
property were also vulnerable and in need of extra support from the Care Point.
At the home, we met Rowenna's aunt and her youngest daughter Isobel who is
three. Rowenna's aunt looks after her own three children, a 17 year old son
Michael, 14 year old daughter Susan and her baby, as well as Rowenna and her
sister and her sister-in-law's child. In the small property, there are 5 adults
and 6 children. Rowenna, although being 15, is only in Grade 6 at school and
struggles academically. She loves going to church and is always helpful around
the house with the jobs she's comfortable doing. It is increasingly difficult
to provide Rowenna with the support she needs and this is something that is
really worrying her aunt. Rowenna's difficulties are subtle but apparent, yet
without diagnosis, the necessary support can't be given and adjusted to Rowenna.
It was a heart-wrenching visit which highlighted the struggles faced by care
givers but also their love and selflessness.
Rebecca, Lisa and Alice Parker went to
visit a lady called Blessing who had recently lost her husband. We were greeted
with a warm welcome and seated on the floor next to the lady. Audrey explained
the situation which was that her husband had passed away a week ago after being ill in hospital. She is the mother of three boys who are all dealing with the
situation in their own way. The eldest prefers to play football with his
friends and not address the situation and the youngest has been crying a lot.
Because the father was from Mozambique, he didn't have any papers so the family
didn't have a lot of money especially due to him not working whilst being ill.
Fortunately, due to the generosity of the community they managed to gather
enough money to pay for the funeral. This truly represents how close the
communities are here in South Africa. The care workers have been visiting Blessing
on a regular basis and she also gets a lot of support from her local church and
pastor who has supported her and her family through the whole tragedy. We
shared some biblical words of encouragement and prayed for her and her family
to find the strength to continue through this hard time. This meant a great
deal to her and she was very happy we prayed for her.
Holly, DJ, Claire and Chris visited Happiness's
house. Happiness has 4 children aged 18,14,5 and 2. We met the two youngest at the
house as we sat outside. The boy aged 5 was very unhappy looking and had been
sent home from the crèche as he wasn't feeling well. DJ immediately connected
with him and started playing with a paper aeroplane. He wasn't interested and
started silently crying. It was so sad to see. Happiness told us how the oldest
child of 18 was struggling in school and how he should be in grade 12 and ready
to leave school, he's only in grade 8 and is mainly struggling with languages.
We prayed for both the health of the young boy and the education of the older
boy to improve and for God to help this family. The care worker told us the
background story of this family and how the mother has had many partners and
there was a period of time where she left the children. This has obviously
effected all the children and they are all suffering in different ways. The
care workers are keeping close tabs on this particular family as the two oldest
go to the care point every day but there are two other youngsters to consider
also.
All the groups then met again at the Care
Point where everyone all enjoyed playing with the children, and meeting those
whose homes people had visited and seeing some familiar faces from the past
couple of years. Hearing their stories, how they and their families a getting on
and what their dreams are was really, really special. We left the Care Point
and went to check in to our overnight accommodation in Wits Rural University
Facility... we had a scrummy meal and shared our stories from the day, and then
went to find where we were sleeping. This was made extra fun with loads of
Impala and monkeys all around the huts!
By Alice S, Holly and Rebecca
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