MEET VUYISEKA!


I am happy to introduce you to the youngest member of the orphan support group. Her name is Vuyiseka and she loves to dance (especially during worship time), draw, and be hugged! I have continued to be encouraged by our time on Friday's at the orphan support group and blessed by the love of these little ones!

There is one orphan, in particular, that I would like to ask you to keep in your prayers this week. Her name is Neliswa. She is 15 years old but wise beyond her years. I got a chance to sit down and talk with her at our last support group. She told me about the many hard things she has been through in the past four years; being raped, the death of her parents, living with an aunt whose children don't like her, and the challenges of going to a school where kids know her parents died of AIDS and now ostracize her because of the stigma of the disease. She told me that no one wants to be her friend because they are scared that she also has the disease. It was heartbreaking to hear these things. That night I went through the prayer box (we put a box out at every support group meeting and encourage the kids to write prayer requests and put them in the box so that we know how we can be praying for them throughout the week), and I found the following prayer from Neliswa.


Was I born to suffer?
Was I born to be abused?
No! God had a purpose.
I'm here to fulfill that purpose.
I'm here to praise God
I'm here to stay.

God I hope all the people,
Women and children who suffer
From abuse to be free.

Lord I pray to through all the world
From sunrise to sunset God to
Let us free; let us live God.
Lord as your child please
Lord help us from Cape to Cairo
God let the world know who you are

I pray Lord, ploughing my knees
For you God to help me.
In the name of the Holy God
Amen and Amen!

-Neliswa


PRAISES!

God has really blessed me this week! I would like to report these praises to you and thank you for your prayers...

I MET SOME NEW FRIENDS!!! I walked by the tennis courts near my apartment to ask if I could join a league. I told the man sitting at the desk that I played tennis in college and was interested playing tennis here if they had an adult league. It turns out that the man I was talking to was the coach of the University of Stellenbosh women's tennis team (the University has about 20,000 students). Anyway, he asked me if I was interested in trying out for the University team! I was surprised to find out that in Africa each university is allowed to have two players on sports teams that are not enrolled in the university as students. So, I went to the courts after work and tried out and got invited to play on the team. So, I am playing another year of college tennis! Who would have thought?! Not me! God has blessed me so much through the girls on the team. We traveled on Saturday for our first away match and I have 8 new friends-- all teammates!
Africa is beginning to feel more like home. I found a church that I really like and am getting comfortable with driving and finding my way from place to place. I found a coffee shop that I enjoy and the weather is getting warmer here as we are on the verge of summer.

PLEASE PRAY...

Please continue to pray for the orphans. Pray for their safety and health (physical and spiritual). Pray for Neliswa and that she will find friends who she can have fun with, laugh with, fully trust, and confide in. Please also pray for Sinoxolo, an 8 year-old orphan who has AIDS. She knows that she has AIDS and prays to be healthy enough to keep going to school. She dropped a prayer in the box that said:

"Because I know the thoughts about my life Jesus, I love you so much. I would like you to pray for me whom I love very much. My studies, my home." -Sinoxolo

STAFF!

I wanted to take some time to briefly tell about the staff that I work with here in South Africa. The directors, Dennis and Susan Wadley, are not in this picture, nor are the South African staff-- but I will insert an updated picture including all of us when I can get it.

Erik Anderson is on the top left and to his right are Melinda and Matthew Talley. The three of them are all here until next summer (with the possibility of staying longer). On the bottom left is Victoria Johnson. She just completed a Masters study at Fuller Theological Seminary and is committed to five years here in South Africa. My roommate, Amanda Jackson, is on the bottom right and she is leaving to go back to the States in December after serving with Bridges of Hope for a year. I feel blessed because we all really enjoy each other. We like to play ultimate frisbee together on Sunday's and make trips to the local frozen yogurt store called Marcel's.

We are going on an annual staff retreat next week (Tue-Fri) so please pray that God would knit our hearts together as we learn more about each others lives and discuss our visions for the ministry in this upcoming year.

WHAT A WEEK!

Friends and Family,

I can't thank you enough for all of your prayers and support! I feel it! Really, it has been such a blessing to FEEL God's peace and presence with me this week as I transition into life in South Africa. It has been so hard in some ways and also really wonderful (depending on the moment!) My life has felt like a wild rollercoaster... Here is an overview of the "ride"...

UP UP UP -- I arrived in South Africa without any hang ups! I walked right through customs without even being questioned and all of my luggage made it. I slept 8 hours on the flight and thankfully haven't experienced any jet lag at all. The 10 hour time change didn't seem to negatively affect my body as I have been sleeping 7-8 hours each night since I arrived.

DOWN -- I am feeling more lonely than I expected. I really miss having people around who know me. I have been praying for new friends and a church body to get involved in. I have missed the comforts of home as almost everything here is different from what I am used to. I am learning to drive on the "wrong" side of the road and eating things called "chutney" and "bobotie". More than anything, however, I miss relationships.

UP -- God is teaching me to rely on Him FULLY (I think he knew he had to lead me far, far, away from home before I would really do it!). He is proving that he truly is capable of fulfilling all of my needs.

DOWN -- My credit cards and cash were stolen shortly after I arrived. I was in a training seminar at a local church and someone took them as we stepped into an adjacent room for lunch. I learned that I must be more careful and aware than I was at home.

UP -- I was so blessed to get to be apart of the orphan support group that met this week. On Friday there were about 45 orphans who attended ranging in age from 5-16. I was filled with joy as we worshipped God together and talked to the kids about God's deep love for them. We taught about their importance to God and gave them bookmarks to decorate and write scriptures on relating to this theme. The picture above is of a little boy writing Jeremiah 29:11 on his bookmark in Xhosa.

PRAYER REQUESTS

* Please pray for the many orphans in the support group. Pray that their physical, spiritual, and emotional needs would be met and that the message they heard at group on Friday would become real and touch their hearts. (Many are living in abusive situations where they hear negative, demeaning messages frequently. They find it hard to believe God's love for them.
* Pray that I would learn to be fully present in Africa, and willing to make it my home for the next while, instead of letting thoughts of home fill my mind.
* Please pray that I would be humble, compassionate, and sensitive when working with the orphans, many of whom are hurting deeply.


Thank you!!!

Love,
Jen