Zulu Country

South Africa is truly The Rainbow Nation with 11 official languages, occupied with many indigenous tribes, and European settlers. Our last outreach was in Durban which holds the largest Indian community outside of India. We however did not work with the Indians but with the Zulu people. Our time in Durban was divided in half. The first week we spent working with Lily of the Valley Community Development and Orphanage and the second half in Valley of 1,000 Hills.

Lily of the Valley is the organization that we have worked with thus far that has really struck me as successful. It offers many great opportunities and life skills classes to make an effective impact in the community. My favorite ministry outlet was working with the orphanage. The orphanage is predominantly made up of children who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. 85% of the kids in the orphanage are also positive. My heart was broken when we heard that a few years ago the orphanage was under different management and the kids were being solicited for sex.

One of the boys there really grabbed hold of my heart. His name was Thando, which means love in Zulu. He was 3 years old and attached to my hip. The first day I met him he seemed to be a defenseless boy that the other kids picked on. So I just held him and gave him love. After about two hours of playing with him it was time to go. I asked one of the English speaking kids to tell him I would be back tomorrow. When I put him down his bottom lip started to quiver and his eyes welled up with tears. The next few days I spent with him we grew to have a deep bond unlike I have had with any other kids here. I learned the phrase to say I love you and by the end of the week he was saying it back to me.

The second week we stayed in The Valley of 1,000 Hills with local families. When we have the privilege to stay with families it is a blessing and a challenge. A blessing because you get to interact so closely with the people and experience their lifestyle and culture hands on. A challenge because you are “on-call” 24/7. When you aren’t doing ministry you are expected to entertain and interact with the family after a tiring day of ministry. In the end I had a great experience with my host.

In A Valley of 1,000 Hills we did a lot of clinic ministry and visited an Aids Hospice. Basically the set up is people go to these free clinics, wait for hours in long lines and stuffy rooms, hoping to be seen, and receive the attention that they need. We would go in and sing songs, perform dramas, share the Word of God, and offer prayer. You could feel the atmosphere in the room change from when we arrived and when we left. The people were planning on spending a day in the company of sick and miserable people waiting to get some relief and were surprised with a story of hope. One of my greatest highlights from this time was at the end of our program we told the people we wanted to give them hugs before leaving. The people sprang to their feet in anticipation for physical touch. I especially loved the hugs from the big African mommas! ☺

On Sunday we went to a church service in an abandoned building. Only being a few years out of the devastating apartheid system there is still a great deal of hurt and prejudices between the Black, Indian, and White communities. The leader of our team is an Indian and he took a surprising leap to reconcile the gap between the races. Our leader shared a little from the Scripture and then took out a basin of water and a towel and said he would like to start by washing the feet of the pastor who was a black African. He did this as a tangible way of saying sorry for the pain his people caused the blacks. The room began to be filled with loud sobs from the congregation. Later our team also washed the feet of the black people as a way of bringing the black and white people together. You could feel the walls of resentment come crumbling down as they recognized that we are God’s children, equally loved in His sight regardless of our past or skin tone.

Well, the holiday season is fully upon us. I hope everyone back home had an awesome Thanksgiving. I was very happy that the Americans on our team left the training base to go to another Americans house for a very nice and authentic Turkey Day meal. As my eyes have begun to open to the realities of pain and suffering throughout the world I really have much to be thankful for. I am so blessed to have a family who loves and supports me. I am grateful for parents who have given so much up for me. I am thankful for the comforts of home like running water, fresh food, and heat during the winter. I am blessed for fun and loving friends. I am filled with gratitude for the church I come from and the many leaders, mentors, and friends who have helped to guide me down a path of godliness. Mostly I am thankful for my relationship to God. I have learned so much more of who He is and His great love for me.

We are back on the base for the next week. We then leave and go to Teen Street which is a big youth gathering for a week and then another outreach for 5 days then Christmas vacation in Cape Town!!!!!!! And my dad will also be joining me!

Ways to Pray:

1. The healing of the burdens the kids at the orphanage carry
2. Spiritual, emotional, and physical strength for the team (we are exhausted on so many levels)
3. God’s guidance in my life after this experience

Love, Adam