Day 11 - Pfunani Community

Wow what a day we had in Pfunani today! It was so full of many interactions that were all different and all special! 

After a great breakfast at Witts, the place we are staying this week, we drove back to the Pfunani Care Point. This involved traveling 6km along dirt roads. Pfunani is a very remote rural community!

We arrived quite early as it is not that far from Wits, the care workers and the service centre people had only just arrived and opened up the Care Point. 

We started by playing with the under 5’s who had already arrived; there was much running around and laughter on the Jungle gym climbing frame. Washing the pots and getting ready was also going on at the food prep area. There were not enough potatoes for today’s meal so Loneck and Audres went off to buy more.

A game of football started up between the team Dads and the team younger members. The Dads showed off their experience and won the day! 

Potatoes arrived and some frantic peeling took place to prepare the potatoes for cooking. This was followed by everyone joining together in the shelter for a relationship group! We did some singing - which is always special and a delight and then Adam shared a word of encouragement based upon Micah 7.7 from ‘The Message’ Bible :

 

7 But me, I’m not giving up.
I’m sticking around to see what God will do.
I’m waiting for God to make things right.

I’m counting on God to listen to me.

Adam encouraged the care workers not to give up when things are tough but always to trust God that he will be there for us and will guide us. A short discussion ensued basically with the same conclusion that God has said that he will be with us always, be with us when things are tough , and when things are going well. All we need to do is to ask! We concluded the relationship group with prayer and a little test for the care workers as to whether they could remember the names of the team and a test to the team as to whether they could remember the names of all the care workers. Both groups did well!

Once the meeting was over - we headed out on three holy home visits leaving Alice and Chris behind to help with the cooking and play with the under 5’s - see separate blog.

I , Chris got to cook the pap today, which is basically ground maize and it gets added to boiling water to cook it! The dry ingredient is added to the boiling water slowly whilst the mixture is stirred. The stirring gets harder and harder as the mix becomes thicker and thicker, but the constant stirring is vital to prevent the pap becoming lumpy. Next for cooking was fried onion and carrot.

Half-way through food prep, one of the youth named Aidan arrived, and helped me to do the right thing at the right time. He explained that he had got out of school early as the teachers were in a ‘vital’ meeting and he had persuaded one of teachers to let him go early as he had visitors (us). It had been a privilege for Alice and I to have attended a Youth Camp at the hub last year where several of the young people attended. It was great to strengthen that relationship! 

People started arriving back from their holy home visits and children started to arrive from school! Another game of football started up which included team, young people from the community and some older members. 

One very special thing we had noticed about Pfunami was the sheer space that was there and the multiple activities that could take place! Football in one space, basket ball in another and under 5’s playing in another! 

It was soon time for the children to come together and sing, dance and pray before their food! Food today was pap with potatoes, gravy and cabbage! 

No sooner was food over then we got out the speaker and led Shine, Be happy and other songs. The children joined in enthusiastically as did the care workers and the service centre team.

It was soon time to say goodbye, but as a special thank you to the team for visiting the care point Aidan led the children in some special dancing, to some locally loved music. We stood in a circle and the children, care workers and the service centre team all took turns of going in the middle and dancing and even some of the team!!! 

We said our goodbyes, it had been a special day of building relationships. As a final act Ben left the children with some words of encouragement based upon Deuteronomy 31:6

“Be strong and be brave! Do not be afraid of those people, because the Lord your God goes with you. He will always be there to help you. He will never leave you.’”

Ben said: As you grow up, the lord will continue to walk with you. In struggling situations, be brave because Jesus will be beside you. Continue to work hard in school and attend the care point and continue to play and smile. We pray that you listen to god and let him guide your path. 

Amen

We reflected afterwards upon our visit, we reflected on the part that the older teenagers, Aidan and Simon were having. We reflected on the depth of relationship that we now had with this care point, and how we need to return to continue to support and encourage. Cherissa had said to us at the beginning of this week the importance of ending our trip well! Certainly today had ended so well with so much love between the care workers the children the youth leaders the service centre and the team. 

Thanks be to God

Blogged by Chris P