The greatest gift of all and a rather large Christmas miracle!

What am amazingly blessed week we’ve have here at the village. It’s been one mad dash from start to finish but I’ve enjoyed every second of it! Monday was an absolute nightmare as I had to pop into town to do some last minute shopping for the village. Even at 8.30am the car park was full. It was bedlam inside. The shelves in the supermarket were just about empty- I struggled to get everything we needed! What should have been a quick in an out job took me til 1pm to complete! I was shall we say a little stressed when I arrived back at the village! Anyhow, most of Christmas eve was spend wrapping more presents and sorting all the other presents into boxes for each house. I knew that the children would be getting quite a few presents from lots of different people but seeing the amount of gifts each house would receive just took my breath away! I cannot stress just how blessed we’ve been this Christmas and how grateful we are for any gift, large or small! I then go to be Father Christmas in the evening dropping all the presents off at the houses after all the children had gone to bed. It was so lovely to know that in the morning the children would all pop out of their bedrooms to find lots of presents under the tree- we had told them they were getting 2 presents when in fact they actually got at least 6 presents each! In the morning I went around the houses early to film some of the newer children opening their presents- for many this was their first experience of Christmas even though they are older. The reactions were all different. Some went crazy and were jumping up and down so excited by all the gifts. Then others were so quiet because they were so overwhelmed by the whole thing. Either way I was so overjoyed to be a part of the whole experience. I spent most of the day with the children going from house to house. Not a single child was disappointed with their presents. Each said thank you to me for the little gift I bought for them all. The appreciation was huge- we’re raising them to be such grateful and polite children! They truly are amazing! I had to put quite a few toys together- a beauty dresser, a shopping trolley (which turned out to be really difficult to put together!!!), a kite, a car garage etc. I was quite the handy woman with my little tool kit (which I borrowed from Robbie of course!). A of yet I have heard of no breakages, everything works everyone is happy. What made the day extra special was the fact that all the children that are old enough to understand, know what Christmas is really about. They know that they have actually already received the greatest gift of all- of course our Lord Jesus Christ. In all the chaos and confusion no-one lost sight of the miracle that was the birth of Jesus Christ. We also had our own Christmas miracle here at the village, which happened on Boxing Day. One of the little boys who is 2 had suffered horrendous abuse before coming to the village which left him with a horrific herpes viral infection in his lower region. We know that the herpes virus is very difficult to get rid of and were told that as his immune system got stronger that the infection would slowly but gradually clear up. Clearly we’ve been praying for healing for him ever since he arrived as his life must have been so horrid and stressful for him. Well on Boxing Day his house mother went to change his nappy and found that the infection had miraculously cleared up literally over night which by worldly standards is impossible! God has performed a miracle with our precious little boy. He is completely healed and there are no scars! It truly has been a miracle so we are so overjoyed by the news! Praise the Lord for he is so awesome and wonderful and performs miracles each and every day to those to believe and pray and trust in His word.

We had a new arrival this week in the form of a little 4 year old boy. Both his parents died of AIDS related illnesses and his Grandmother died last week and his Grandfather can’t take care of him anymore. The little boy has just turned 4 but wears clothes for 6-12 month year olds. He is so small and underdeveloped (like a lot of the children here) and was so distraught that his Grandfather was leaving him. He screamed and screamed when his "papa" left. The Grandfather said that he knew that he couldn’t provide for the child anymore and because he loved him so much (which was very apparent from the way they interacted with each other) he felt that he should be placed in the village and in such a loving and caring environment. That was a very brave and noble thing he did for his Grandchild. A 9 month old baby also arrived this week, however she is only here temporarily as her mother is going for chemotherapy for the next three weeks and can’t look after her. Again you could see the love between mother and child. It is so nice to see that some people do actually care for their children in a community where there is so much neglect and abuse.
We had a little outing also at the end of the week to keep the children entertained. We went to the gorge which is very near to the village and had a walk and little picnic- such a small event but so significant to the children!

Merry Christmas

Just wishing everyone a very happy christmas! I hope you all have a lovely festive period wherever you are and whoever you are with!

Lots of love and blessings to you all

L
xx

Life Is A Rollercoaster

As I write this latest blog entry (Friday 21st Dec) I’m sitting in the local hospital. One of the children is in the operating theatre; the other has just come out and is in recovery. Both routine operations but I’m still feeling so apprehensive. In fact I’m feeling so many different emotions right now and I’m tired. I’m constantly in prayer even as I write. I’m praying that God would protect his beautiful children whilst they are so vulnerable. I’m thinking back to the time when I was hospital and how scared and alone I felt. My eyes are welling up as I think of the children lying there asleep. I can’t be next to them, I can’t hold their hands. I can’t be there when they wake up in recovery as there aren’t any scrubs for me to wear. I said I would be there when they wake up but I won’t be. Anyway, this isn’t about me, it’s about a 10 year old boy who when he wakes us will be able to hear so clearly for the first time. No more muffled sounds, perfect hearing at last! The other 10 year old may get is voice back after becoming hoarse a while ago.
Both children are now in the children’s ward. Both were told that they would be returning home the same day, now both are faced with the prospect of having to stay over night. Not because they are particularly sick but because the nurse doesn’t want to fill in all the discharge forms because it’s past the normal discharge hours and she wants to go home. She pokes and prods the children. She sticks a thermometer into the ear of the child who has just had ear surgery. She doesn’t tell them that she is going to take their blood pressure the she brandishes a needle and pricks the boy’s thumbs without any warning. There is no love, there is no compassion and both boys are pouring out their hearts, begging us to take them home. At this point I have very little control; the tears are falling from my face. I get up and wander around the ward looking at all the other sick children and again tell myself that this is not about me and how upset I am that the children might have to stay, it’s about them. I have to be strong. The tears stop. Finally at 6pm after being in the hospital since 10am the doctor comes and discharges both of the children much to the disgust of the nurse. I’ve not eaten all day, I’m emotionally empty but they’re coming home. I can’t describe how happy I feel. My boys are coming home; I don’t have to leave them alone. Both boys finally smile for the first time. I get a hug and a high five- I know they are well enough to come home. Praise the Lord for looking after my gorgeous boys and for letting them come home and eat some ice cream. Praise God for those brave boys. I’m so proud of them both- I can’t stop telling them that.
Thinking back over the week it’s been one big rollercoaster ride. So much has happened this week. Everyday we’ve had some kind of event happening for the Children! We’ve been so blessed! Firstly on Saturday Standard Bank organised a Christmas party for the children, which was a huge success! The big crèche kids and school kids were involved and they had such an amazing time! We had lots of hats, blowers (I think I was nearly deaf by the end of the party), games, songs, dancing and generally happiness! Some of the newer children were a little overwhelmed by all the noise and attention- after all it’s the first time a lot of them have actually had a party! I felt like such a child again- I was dancing away with them all without a care in the world! The only thoughts going through my mind at the time were of how blissfully happy the children looked and how blissfully happy I was too! God truly blessed that party!

On Sunday we went out into the Community again to a church service where Yvonne (one of the management at Rehoboth) was doing a talk on HIV and AIDS. It was amazing to see how a service is a carried out in a Zulu church! They worship so freely and with so much visible emotion! There were a lot of hallelujahs and amens. Nothing ran according to the schedule- the service was supposed to start at 9am but didn’t really get going until 10.30am (yes that’s right- an hour and a half late!) but it didn’t seem to matter as they were still coming to worship God regardless of what time it was! Yvonne really encouraged people to go and get tested for HIV as so many people just try and live in ignorant bliss. There are so many myths going around as to how you can cure AIDS, how you can supposedly protect yourself etc so Yvonne really tried to dispel all the lies and she really spoke out the truth. The kids did seem to have some knowledge about the disease but the adults knew very little so it really would have been a learning curve for them. We watched a program on TV about Iffafa which is another extremely poor area in KwaZulu Natal highly infected with HIV/AIDS. They showed footage of a guy working with kids in school talking about how you can protect yourself by either abstaining from having sex or by using condoms. One girl said that she doesn’t trust condoms- I can actually understand where she is coming from as recently over 1 million condoms had to be recalled, as they were faulty so no wonder they have little faith in them. Another boy said that his girlfriend didn’t like him using condoms as “who wants to eat a sweet with the wrapper still on”. Crude I know but it’s what they think. The problem is huge and isn’t likely to go away for a long time yet. The church has now set up some sort of confidential support service for those who have been tested and are positive- something they’ve never had before so I really think that after Yvonne’s talk that a lot of people will be moved to go and get tested and then receive the support that they need to accept their status and adapt their lifestyle.
Now onto Monday. We didn’t work as it was a Bank Holiday- weird I know as it is so close to Christmas but hey I wasn’t going to complain! It was a fairly nice day so we decided to go to Lake Eland which is actually in a game reserve. It was amazing to see all the wildlife- zebra, giraffe (we were really close!!!), springbok, wildebeest and warthog amongst other things! We had a lovely picnic next to the lake and just relaxed all day. It was so nice to get away and empty my mind for a few hours. Life is so hectic at the village at the moment that sometimes even at night it’s hard to switch off.

On Tuesday morning we took the kids to the movies to see Surf’s Up- good movie by the way! The kids really enjoyed the trip out and it was a great way to keep them entertained as it rained hard nearly all day! On Wednesday we had a very busy day of preparation for the Christmas party planned for the next day. A very generous lady brought KFC for all the kids at lunchtime as a little Christmas gift. Ah they were so happy to get their little kiddies KFC box. A small gift but such a significant gift as the children adore KFC so they were very grateful for it.

Now onto the big day- the finale of sorts! Pick and Pay (a local supermarket) organised a huge party for the children and staff. The festivities kicked off at 9.30am when Father Christmas arrived at the village via a helicopter- man he arrived in style! All the kids and mums were jumping up and down, waving and screaming! It was so wonderful to be a part of all the excitement. Father Christmas then was transported up to the activity centre and gave out some really lovely looking gifts! After Father Christmas left, the mums received a gift in the form of a food hamper. As these ladies live in the community when they aren’t working at Rehoboth it was a very nice gift for them indeed! After gifts we had lots of nice food. The organisers had also arranged a bouncy castle (or jumping castle as they call it here) and a really cool water slide. The kids went wild jumping everywhere and running onto the water slide getting totally soaking wet! By mid morning all the kids were soaked, I had been down the water slide a few times fully clothed and was ringing wet, the sun was shining and everyone was happy. The kids were all running round with such huge smiles from ear to ear. The organisers of the whole event were all so happy and smiley too. For them seeing just how much joy they had brought to the entire village made the whole event so worthwhile and a huge success!

It was such an amazing day for us all but something else for me made it an even better day. When Father Christmas had to leave again in the helicopter guess who was sitting next to him for the ride home- me! I’ve never flown in a helicopter before so I was so excited! The experience was awesome! We flew across the community- I had no idea how big it is! There are little shack like houses as far as they eye can see all closely packed together. The local community stretches over many peaks right to the coast. It was amazing to see everything by air. Now I really can see the extent of the poverty in this area- “now that I have seen, I am responsible, faith without deeds is dead……..”

I'll Stand For You

Well Robbie and I are half way through our time here at Rehoboth- can you believe it? We’ve been here for 3 months and it only feels like 3 weeks! So much has happened in such a short space of time sometimes it’s difficult to take everything in. Christmas is getting ever closer but for me it didn’t really feel like Christmas until yesterday. Yesterday I received a nice surprise in the post from my mum and dad. It was an advent calendar. Yes, I am aware that I’m 24, but I’ve ALWAYS had an advent calendar so not having one was just weird. So, my little surprise made my day and my week! Mum and Dad you’re so good to me- love you both lots! What was also good was that I could eat 13 chocolates straight away! Yum! And it was English chocolate- not rubbish South Africa chocolate which in my opinion is pretty rubbish (but I still seem to eat it!!).
More and more Christmas presents keep arriving from so many generous people. We’re getting lots of parcels through the post from English sponsors- thanks guys for your generosity- all the gifts look amazing! I’m still not finished wrapping all the gifts (I don’t think I’ll ever be finished) but hey it’s not too bad a job wrapping lovely presents all day!
Rehoboth is having a big celebration day in the New Year to give thanks for 6 brilliant years so we’ve all been busy organising invitations and flyers and posters this week. Robbie and I were given the task of hand delivering all the invitations to the 40 or so farms and other dwellings on the dirt road Rehoboth is situated on. So, off we went in our little Citi Golf after lunch. 2 hours later we returned home thanking God that we were still alive. Every single place we went to there were at least 2 or 3 big dogs so Robbie bless him had to be a very brave boy! We ended up at chicken farms, car garages, general farms, haunted houses, diesel suppliers, parrot farms etc! It was quite a fun afternoon! I’m developing my off roading and manoeuvring skills quite well as some of the roads leading up to the farms were rather battering and uneven. I as quite impressed with my driving- I think I definitely have now adjusted to life in South Africa!
We had a big even in baby crèche this week- one of the toddlers stood all by himself for the first time! Ah it was such a lovely moment! He’s been standing aided for a long time but this was the first time he was able to stand by himself for at least 30 seconds! He was so pleased with himself (as you can see in the picture!)- we were obviously please too! What made it even more special was when one of the other boys noticed he shouted at some of the other kids and they all came and stood next to him and gave him a big clap! They were so sweet! It really was a special time for us. It’s always nice to see a child reach an important milestone like that given what they have been through and are still going through. Ah special times.

One of our workers gave his life to the Lord this week, which was so amazing. He’s been on the verge for so long so we’re so happy he’s now made that commitment to God. The children all adore him so much so hopefully now God will use him even more in their lives! Praise the Lord.
It really has been a good week now that I think back over everything. On Thursday night we all went out for a meal as it’ll be our last meal altogether as one of the other volunteers is going home until the end of March and we’ll be gone when she comes back. We had a wonderful evening- we all get one so well and are so comfortable around each other- I feel like I’ve known these people my whole life- not just 3 months. Doesn’t time fly when your having fun…..

Your will not mine be done

As I’m sure many of your have heard via texts, facebook and desperate emails this week Rob and I have had nightmare problems trying to extend our visas so that we can stay in South Africa. We originally planned to leave mid April however when we went to Home Affairs early on Tuesday morning we were bluntly told that we could only stay til mid March as we could only extend our existing visa by 3 months and not 4. Rob and I were devastated to say the least. Our only option was to change our flights to the 14th March meaning we would have 2 weeks less time at the village and no holiday touring the country afterwards. We were initially quite shocked and angry; however after speaking to someone else higher up at Home Affairs we realised that there was nothing we could do. So many people were praying for us (thanks guys) so initially I really thought that Satan was on the attack. I soon realised though that I was living according to my agenda. I wanted to stay in South Africa a bit longer, I wanted a holiday. That is clearly not in God’s agenda. His plan obviously involved going home a month early. Knowing this has given me so much peace. God has everything figured out and has done for a very long time. He’ll then let me in on all the details when the time is just right!
Aside from all the visa dramas it’s been a lovely week. It’s been the first week of the school holidays so all the older children need to be entertained in the mornings as well as all the younger ones. The house mums have put together a program of activities for the mornings, which has been a huge help to us all as we’re sooooooo busy at the moment. As most of you are aware I’ve been given the wonderful task of buying and wrapping all the Christmas presents- yes all 38 of them. Over the past few weeks I’ve spent countless hours out shopping looking for nice gifts. I wanted to buy each child something that was suited exactly to them and something that I know they’d love. Needless to say it was a mammoth task. When I was finished buying I then had to put batteries in all the battery operated gifts and check everything works. Now I’m in the process of wrapping. I’ve already gone through at least 20 metres of paper and I’m not even half way through. I’ve still got a shopping trolley and beauty dresser to wrap a well as lots of other big toys!!! Now I know how stressful Christmas can be for parents- you can’t just buy the present and then wrap it. You’ve got to think about it, go out and buy it, carry the heavy box, open it, put it together, put the batteries in, check it all works, take it apart again and then try to get all the parts back in the box again (near impossible I’ve found) and then finally wrap it! Who knew Christmas could be so complicated and stressful!
The children danced last week at their church. There were a few problems beforehand which could have potentially been disastrous however everything got sorted in the end. Before the service I went outside to pray with the children that were dancing and we realised that one of the dancers had been left behind at the village. I had to race back to the village and race back. By God’s grace and amazing timing we walked into the church, sat down and then had to stand straight back up again as it was time for the children to dance! Phew! They of course danced with such grace and mostly with huge smiles. I was so proud of them! Afterwards the management team, their kids and us the volunteers went to a Waffle house for waffles (doh!!!!) and then to the beach for a bit. It was so nice to have time with everyone together as we’re all so busy during the week that sometimes we don’t get to see each other very much!

It’s been so amazing to see how much people want to get involved with Christmas here at the village. We’re having at least 3 parties supplied by different companies completely free of charge. Then others have donated presents or given us money to buy presents. The children will have at least 4 presents each to open on Christmas day! They even got an early Christmas present this week. A bike shop donated a fleet of brand new bikes so we gave out about 20 new bikes this afternoon to those who didn’t have bikes already. The children’s faces were absolutely priceless. They all came running to collect their new shiny bike grinning from ear to ear. It was such a special moment to see some of the children ride a bike for the first time! The little 6 year old girl that only arrived about a month ago probably never got a present in her whole life and now she has her very own bike and will be getting some lovely presents on Christmas day! Now each child over the age of 4 has a bike to ride around the village with their own helmet of course- praise the Lord as he provides exactly what we need!