Valentine's Day

Before I blog about the great weekend I had in Bloomfontein, I want to back-blog about the crazy, busy, blessed Valentine's Day that I had. The day began as many of my days do....I was trying to prioritize what is most important for me to do that day. Work on curriculum? Observe the teachers? Model good teaching skills? Gather materials? I couldnt quite figure out the best course of action, so I prayed "God please show me how you want to use me today. Show me how to be your hands and feet."

On the way to work I stopped to get the children some cookies and marshmallows (with a pink and white theme) in honor of Valentine's Day. I also picked up a candy bar for each of the teachers.

Shortly after lunch, one of the teachers asked for some food for her family. She was out of money and out of food. The church typically keeps food in the pantry for just such occasions....but we were OUT. So I gave her a little money to buy groceries. What a blessing to have so much I can just pull out money and feed a family for several days!

Later in the day, 2 men came to the church looking for some clothes. I helped outfit them with clothes from the store room. The older of the 2 gentlemen was very thankful and kept saying "God Bless You" over and over. It seems to strange that they would thank me. I didnt purchase these clothes. I just took 5 mintues to go in the store room to get them. To be able to have the privledge of helping these men through no effort on my part was a bit humbling.

In the afternoon, Nomalonga went looking for Sunday. I've blogged about Sunday before. He was a particularly naughty boy in our Day Care. Sunday graduated from TLC and SHOULD be going to school this year. But after a little investigation, we found out that he wasnt going to school. So Nomalonga tracked down Sunday and his Granny to see if we could help. We knew something must be wrong for her to lie about sending him to school and then to disappear after having been a faithful church attender for so long.

Nomalonga found out that Sunday and his granny are living in the hallway of a building. They lock their things in a small cleaning closet during the day. The granny has a part time job ironing clothes for one family. She cant make more than R100 (about $15) a week at this job. When Nomalonga found them, Sunday had lost ALOT of weight. He was skin and bones and his eyes were sunken into his head from lack of nutrition. Needless to say, Nomalonga returned to the church in tears. Since we had no food in the food pantry, Nomalonga asked if I had any money we could use to buy them some food. ABSOLUTELY!!!

I drove Nomalonga to the grocery store. We spent R120 (about $20) and bought rice, bread, flour, vegetables, fruit, chicken and a few other staples. Then we drove to the house where the Granny works to deliver the food. On the way I realized I had one extra chocolate bar left over from that morning. So I grabbed it and took it to give to Sunday for Valentine's Day.

Sunday was every bit as skinny as Nomalonga had reported. But he ran to me and gave me a big hug. I was so glad to know that he would not go to bed hungry that night! My heart was broken that we couldnt have gotten him help any sooner. And I wonder how many other children dont have someone like Nomalonga searching for them to make sure they are taken care of. I pray that God's people will rise up and do something about the needs they see around them. I thank God for Nomalonga's determination to help!

As we were leaving, I caught Sunday teasing someone that he got a chocolate bar and they didnt. It was actually a blessing to see that he is still SO naughty!

And if that weren't enough opportunities to be God's hands and feet, when we returned to the Day Care, one of the teachers asked for a ride to the hospital. Her son, Nqobani, had fallen and his wrist was swelling. So I drove them to the hospital to get it checked out. (One of the bones in his wrist shifted. He will be fine, but has to wear a cast for 2 weeks).

But God is good! After a day full of opportunities to serve other people, God gave me even more blessings. That night I got to spend time with a bunch of local volunteers. We went to the home of 2 World Vision Missionaries. Dave and April are a lovely American couple who are serving here in Jo'burg. We had burritos and Dr Pepper for dinner!! It was a great time of fellowship and laughter. I needed some time to just relax and share stories with other missionaries. God knew what I needed before I even knew to ask for it! God is good.

It was a long day. But it was the best Valentine's Day ever!
I also realized that my journey to South Africa began a year ago on Valentine's day. That was the day that I first met Cheryl Allen and began to pray about coming to South Africa!

PS...Sunday now attends a Day Care around the corner from us in the mornings. They feed him breakfast. Then he comes to our Day Care for lunch and some play time in the afternoon. We cant keep him all day because we are full. But we have a child who only comes in the morning, so having Sunday in the afternoons keeps us within our legal limit. So he is getting food daily now. And we are keeping in contact with Granny, so we are able to provide food for them at home when they are running low. Please pray for Sunday and his Granny Justina.