During the September school holidays, 11 high school kids and 1 final year student gave their holiday to go and help at the Thlakuli orphanage in Butha Buthe, Lesotho. During this ten days we spend two days on the road and worked hard for the rest. Four members of the team were also part of the July outreach to Tlakuli and two of them returned after an outreach September 2008. The ophans enjoyed seeing the familiar faces return.
The team finished the vegetable garden we worked on in July and also put the shade net covering over it. The biggest task was to take down the roof of the house Christiaan is preparing for the orphans to live in. We replaced the broken roof beams, painted the corricated iron with anti rust precoat, nailed it back o the roof, made the roof waterproof and painted it a lovely blue. Furthermore we painted the playground in bright colours, painted the inside of the church and spend some good time with the orphans.
Four evenings we held a church service for the community. The team members led the worship, decided on a message, worked out and performed a play, read the scripture and delivered the message. Though this was a stretch for them, they did great and learned that they too can hear the Lord speak and let Him speak through them.
The children testify on how their mindset changed about how much you need to live and they experienced how privileged they are to live their lives the way they do. It is priceless to see how everyone learned something new about God in this time and I trust that this time out of their comfort zone will also change the way they live inside their comfort zone.
We were challenged by the overall joy and the servant attitude of the orphans. Our hearts were touched seeing the immense joy on the face of a child receiving a new shirt, or even just a painted swing. We were challenged by how a congregation stays engaged in a three hour church service, and seeing people get delivered as part of an every Sunday service. We were troubled in noticing that a child has not grown since September 2008 , realizing that some time in the future AIDS will take yet another innocent victim.
In the little we give, out of the abundance we have to give, we make a physical difference and receive so much more in our hearts. I know I will never be able to meet the need in Africa, but I stand convicted knowing that I many times miss the impact I should’ve made simply because I didn’t have the guts to give myself. For I know that Christ in me is the only hope of glory that Africa will ever have.