3 weeks ago we found out that the Transkei needs some help, so we answered the call. To fund the various projects, we had 3 blikskud sessions in PE - in less than 5 hours, God blessed us with R35 000! So from the word go, we felt the Lord's hand of provision on us, in finances, material and tools.
Our first week, we spent in Coffee Bay, serving at Coffee Bay Comprehensive Christian School. We painted classrooms & bathrooms; put in a new door; pulled straight a wooden classroom dubbed "Plankie" & put up a new sink roof over it, varnished more classrooms and painted the office and missionary's house. It was a week of very hard work, but an incredible sea view, since the school is situated on top of a hill. If you felt tired, you only need to look around and immediately felt revitalized. All the teams were able to finish their projects.
Week 2 we traveled to Canzibe, which is more inland. There is a lovely missionary couple staying on the mission station and they allowed us to pitch our tents in their backyard. During the days, we helped with the school on site, singing songs, playing games and helping the teachers by presenting dramas and lessons to the kids. The teams engaged wholeheartedly. It was a very good preparation of what to expect on the journey to come. We also spent time in the communities, going out to visit homes and do a survey on the needs and beliefs of the people. A main problem that we picked up on is how intertwined their culture and religion has become. This caused a mixture in their doctrine as well. They believe in Jesus, but also in the ancestors. It's really difficult to try and convince them other wise, but we're not supposed to convince anyone of Jesus, we can simply testify about who He is and share scripture with them. It's God that brings conviction. One day
we also helped with some physical needs, painting houses, chopping down trees and putting up a fence. Luckily Coffee bay gave us a lot of practice in all this!
Like true Global CHALLENGE style, getting back to Jeffreys bay was not just getting into an 8 hour bus again. With the famous words from Clara: "Welcome to Mthatha, this is your first challenge!" We headed out with a lot of enthusiasm! First stop was buying our chicken Gcina, to carry with us and be present on every photo. So there we went, catching our pig, carrying 20 liters of water, learning how to weave and a traditional Xhosa song, having a delicious meal of chicken feet (which we bought frozen at Spar and prepared on a braaivleis fire next to the road) and shared the gospel to a few people. We ended up sleeping outside a petrol station in King Williams Town, until our woman of
peace Vuyokazi, the lady working behind the till, opened up her room to us. What a nice, warm, soft sleep.
And here we are now, 7 trolls. Sitting not under a bridge anymore, nor on the side of the road, but in an Avanza, heading to Jeffreys bay!
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