Thank you for praying for sleep! The entire team was better rested for this day.
By the time we arrived, there were already people waiting in line for glasses. We saw a little over 150 people today, not including all of the little kids who came along for the fun. The physical needs of the people in this area are not insignificant. Many face extreme poverty, health issues, potential dangers of various kinds, and family challenges that come from lack of resources available. In South Africa, it is very difficult for people from other countries to find work of any kind or qualify for any assistance. We believe that over 12 people made professions of faith.
I asked one of the female leaders at the church "Pastor Brenda" (they call the wife of the pastor by this name), if she felt that our presence made an impact. She said absolutely. The people are encouraged once they learn that we are American that people would travel such a long distance to come to meet them. She said that reading glasses are very expensive and the need is great. The church leadership team will follow up on every contact card that we collected.
Prayer Requests:
- many of the people we spoke to today are looking for jobs - we heard requests of all kinds.
- Steve spoke to a young boy, Wesley (age 11) who asked for prayer for protection of his family because where he lives is 'very dangerous'.
- many people who came required very serious medical help (glaucoma, eye diseases, long distance vision issues, etc.) - pray that they are able to get the help they need... also pray as we brainstorm ways to help in the future.
- the people who made decisions today that they continue to grow in Christ and find support in the church family at Olieven Baptist.
- Olieven is getting ready to launch a NEW MISSION in the next couple of weeks in Roodpoort a few miles away. What great news! Pray that the groundwork that they continue to lay in the next weeks brings much fruit as they get started.
After going out to Olieven, we returned to Hope Baptist Church where we were once again greeted by the children and youth from the after school program. What fun it is to watch them engage with their teachers and sing - and BONUS: they were so happy to see us all (Steve has especially built up quite the fan club). Before arriving to the church, the team purchased several hundred pencils, erasers and colored pencils as we had noticed the day before that many children did not have a pencil. They were very happy to have them - the volunteers and staff in this program are tireless in this often thankless work.
This evening John returned to Olieven with Pastor Julius to teach his marriage enrichment class to the couples at Olieven. He had a great turn out and many people were blessed. These classes are very important as they are not frequently available to people here, and they bring a biblical perspective on the roles of husband and wife, which sometimes override traditional cultural roles.
Early morning tomorrow as we head out to Pilanesberg for one night!
Prayer requests:
- continued safety and health
- Safety on the road: Keith is doing an excellent job of driving all of us around in our van - it's not a small feat to navigate driving on the opposite side of the road while maneuvering around loads of other vehicles driving in sometimes very unpredictable ways, busses, broken down vehicles, and pedestrians walking everywhere (today we saw someone walking across the freeway!).
- inevitably on such a trip, there is a lot going on in everyone's mind as we process the events of the day. We are all experiencing some heaviness as we think about it all - there are so many needs here.
- pray for the lost suitcase to be delivered! It has shown the status "in progress of delivery" since Sunday and we believe it is Johannesburg - we just haven't seen it yet!
Hannah's video is definitely worth the watch:
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