And…that’s why I haven’t blogged in a few weeks. I know, I thought I was doing so well for a while! So, now I am redeeming myself:) So where do I even begin….
Where did I leave off? Let’s see….Angel. This little girl is doing amazing. Each time I go and visit Nelly’s house, she is making more and more progress. Almost all the bed head is completely gone. Her skin complexion is looking better. She laughs. She responds to being tickled. She can sit up and move her head on her own. It really is amazing. I’m soooo excited to see her grow right in front of my eyes. Last week while we were out of town, her mom, Gloria, came by for a visit. It went pretty well and Gloria was so impressed at how this little one was doing. Please keep praying for Angel AND Gloria. I know God has some good things in store for this family. Also pray that God will provide everything that is needed to take care of this child:)
The same week that everything happened with Angel, another semi traumatic event occurred. I’m sorry I haven’t written about it soon, but I think I was a little in shock and we also left town for a week in a half…which I’ll get to just now. Um, so pretty much a lady that volunteered at the clinic with me who was HIV positive passed away unexpectedly. It was a total shock to all the works and a huge shock to me. I had just seen her and prayed for her less than a week earlier. I was one of only a few that new she was positive. Yeah, it stinks. The doctors said that it was a blood pressure issues, but a week before this all happened she told me that they had just changed her ARVs (medication for HIV) and she was reacting to it. I asked God to heal her, but He didn’t. So I trust that He healed her in a better way than I thought. She was an amazing woman and will be terribly missed. I am grateful for the nurses at the clinic in bringing me into their pain and mourning. We did a small memorial service for her at her home…it was really cool to be apart of it.
So, like I said previously, I have been gone for the past 10 days. We went to a small town located about 3 1/2 hours northeast of us called Sommerset East. We joined forces with local volunteers and a few other missions groups to put on a program called Beat the Drum. Beat the Drum is a HIV/AIDS awareness and abstinence program. We pretty much went and took over this small town. We went into the community, schools, and local churches to share our message and give the next generation some hope for tomorrow. Inspire them to stand up and be apart of change rather than sit back and let this disease take over. I taught grade 12 at a school called Cookhouse, which is one of the highest percentages of HIV in all of SA. It was really challenging for me, but I really enjoyed hanging out with those students and see a fire lit in their eyes to want to make a difference. A lot of cool things happened, but now it is left up to all the local volunteers and churches to do our follow up. That is a big job. Please pray for them. They need it.
We are now back in Jbay and starting our normal routine FINALLY. Ministries are going well. It is still difficult sometimes to not be in a SET ministry everyday, but thankfully God still gives me really cool opportunities here. I absolutely love the girls that I am discipling. They are amazing, and I am seeing God bring freedom to so many of their lives.
I hope you enjoyed the update:)
