It's already been over a week?!

I can hardly believe that I have been in Cape Town an ENTIRE week!! This week has literally flown by!! As I reflect on the week I have learned so much, seen so much, thought so much, and felt so much that words cannot adequately express it all. Last night, I had some down time and was thinking that in many ways I am not going to know how this experience shapes and changes me until days, weeks, months and years down the road. But here are some things I do know after week one.

There is a difference in choosing to serve and choosing to be a servant. My dad sent me this quote earlier this week and I really liked it. I quickly realized here that when we choose to serve we can still have selfish desires and motives, but when we try our hardest to humble ourselves as a servant then that is when God can really use us. This realization does not make it easy here in South Africa. Some days I do not want to be a servant. I mean, cutting 50 pairs of hands out of construction paper with safety scissors is not exactly “glamorous ministry,” but as I helped the children with the craft, it hit me that cutting out their traced hands on construction paper was how God’s love was being revealed to them. For that fact, I am blessed that God can use me to show them a bit of God’s amazing love.

There is also something said for spending time and listening to people’s stories. This week I’ve come to understand that though my job deals specifically with children and teens, one the greatest ways which I can minister is being a friend to the Life Skills Educators. Some of my greatest JOYS this week came from chatting with other LSEs. I loved hearing about Melissa’s hopes to move to Belgium and go to school or hear Jesse discuss baby names for her little boy that she is expecting in June. The chats I’ve had with Meagan on the bus and with Alistar as we plan for Kids Clubs are conversations I hope and pray will continue to grow and develop throughout these weeks. I realize that it is because of the parents I have and how I’ve grown up seeing value placed on relationships with others why I am so interested in getting to know these LSEs. If I had not grown up in a home where my parents invested in others then I don’t think I’d be at a place in my life here where I want to invest and pour into the LSEs of Ocean View.

There is truth that where two or three are gathered, God is there. On Fridays all the Life Skills Educators meet for training. Before the training begins we have a time of devotion. Now, the devotion is not planned to a “T.” The thirty of us stand up in a little room and begin in silent prayer then as the Spirit leads one can begin in song or prayer. All I have to say about that experience is WOW. As we sang, we did not have fancy projectors or the fancy instruments but merely our hearts and voices. What power comes from glorifying God with all that you are. As we stood singing and praying together I thought, “This is WORSHIP. This is what God desires. God desires people offering their entire selves to God through worship, praise, and adoration.” I hope that as my weeks continue to go on here, I will more and more understand and comprehend the beauty of true worship and awe for our God. I cannot put into words the power that was in that room yesterday. All I can say is the presence of God overflows at Living Hope.

There is something to be sad for simplicity. Life moves at a slower pace here and it is so refreshing. I mean, I have extremely long days and am busy all day long, but throughout the day we take time to stop and enjoy the day before us. Perhaps that means we take a minute to laugh with one another or take a walk on the beach. Whatever the day allows, we take moments to enjoy life and the moment. There are not loud TVs disrupting us or all the other crazy distractions that are in my life back in America. At night, once I return home, I have time to read or write or even sleep if I want because we really don’t have places to go because almost everything here close at 5. The South African culture is really showing me that life was not meant to be lived at such a quick pace as we live it out in America. We must enjoy simplicity. I mean, Christ was a busy man when he was on earth, but he did know how to slow down, take a side trip, invest in others, and enjoy simplicity in life. Perhaps we are to do the same?