Connecting with people. Lots and lots of people.

 Today was a full, full, full day.  To the brim.  And also running over... 

An early start brought us to Hope Baptist Church by 8:30AM to prepare for the reading glasses clinic.  The entire team was full of anticipation of what God might have in store for us today - and maybe full of a little anxiousness.  Everyone hopes to get "it" right - "it" being the process of potentially leading someone to a profession of faith in Jesus.  We as believers understand the gravity of that decision point, but also reminded ourselves that it is merely an opportunity to talk about the love of Jesus and the difference He has made in our lives.  Focus on the relationship and not so much the process.

In case you're curious, the flow of the clinic is as follows:

1. People come and receive a number to hold their place in line. 

2. One by one, they come to a table where individual volunteers (us and some local pastors and volunteers) are seated. 

3. We invite the person to fill out some contact information, and then guide them through some talking points: 

    - Do you believe in God?

    - Do you belong to a church?

    - If you were to die do you know for certain you would live in eternity with Jesus?

    - Can we pray for you / with you?

    - Have you been baptized?

4. We pray with or for the individual and then bring them to another waiting room to be fitted for some reading glasses. 

The goal is to spend some time making a connection and give Julius and his volunteers an opportunity to follow up with them at a later time.  The other goal is to help the person make a profession of faith if they are interested in pursuing a life changing relationship with Christ. 

Today we saw about 200 people and had to turn some away because of time (we are going back to that location on Friday).  Our team prayed the salvation prayer with 5 individuals. 

  

 

After a well-needed lunch (and finding an iced tea with the right ice for some of us) we went back to the church to help kids during a state run after-school program for children aged K-9.  There were over 250 children there today.  We all got an opportunity to brush up on our math and writing skills and help some kids out with their homework.  For the younger kids, the second part of the session included a Bible Club time where the kids sang (and danced of course!) and heard a story, which today had a guest speaker: Joy.  It was such a fun time!!

We flowed into the last session of the day: a marriage enrichment session facilitated by John Herr.  There were about 6 couples as well as some single young adults, who all got to hear some very deep wisdom about the importance of communication and verbalization in relationship to God and also with each other in marriage and family.

I told you it was a full day!  Everyone was completely spent and we returned to the guesthouse over 13 hours later with tired feet, physically exhausted but spiritually very encouraged and energized.  God is doing such great work in South Africa and through Hope Baptist Church.  The harvest is plenty here guys - prayerfully consider joining a future team to be part of it!

Prayer requests:

- safety and protection from fatigue... jetleg got the best of most of our night's sleep last night, and we are hoping for more hours of Z's tonight!

- we are going to a new location for the reading glasses sessions: Olieven Baptist Church, one of the mission churches started a couple of years ago.  

- for the seeds planted today in the hearts of new brothers and sisters in Christ, but also for everyone else we encountered.   

- oh and pray that the other suitcase still gets delivered!

And by now, everyone's fave: a video from Hannah!