Author:
Kristine Magbanua
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Date Posted: 06:21:18 05/16/04 Sun
Sat, 15 May 2004 02:04:02 -0700 (PDT)
Dear friends and family,
It's that time of the week again! Before I begin I would like to take this time to thank all those who have been in communication with me because it lets me know that I'm reaching some people and that you've not all forgotten about me all the way out here :-).
Let me start by saying that aside from my sore back and upper arms I'm doing very well. But I'll leave that part of the story when I get there.
Monday - aside from our Life Skills course in the morning, in the afternoon we went to apparently what is the most dangerous part of town, the squatters part I guess?, which is called Georgedale. We began to gather a crowd of, again mostly kids, about around 60 people. Halfway through our Shackles dance we heard gunshots fired (three, I was told) and half of the people, while we were dancing, immediately rushed to where the action was which I had been told were some plainsclothes detectives chasing a wanted man. It was the most random thing that has happened to us. We were able to get through with the open air, though, and managed to keep our heads while we were dancing too. Though it was strange to see our audience run off. We saw quite a number of people saved and led to the Lord that afternoon.
Tuesday - We went once more to help feed the old folks. They are always so happy to see us and to see that there are peole interested in them still. I was able to pray for an old lady who saw all but one of her 11 children die. Some through sickness, some in an accident others I can't remember. But she wants to see the last one come to Christ because now he is just an alcoholic with no future to look forward to.
Wednesday - afternoon after the course I think was the best time that I have had yet so far! We visited an HIV/AIDS home for children called Lily of the Valley. I heard that the place, beautifully situated with nice house buildings, comfortable living situations for the children and a peaceful atmosphere, began as a hospice where they took the children who had AIDS to come and die. They treated them well and as though they were going to live. They began getting children who were becoming better, though and now had to deal with the children and where to put them (becoming HIV + to -). So they put up the Lily of the Valley and now they have 50 something children, four of whom have AIDS and 19 who are HIV +. The rest are well. The beauty of it is that they treat them all the same and house them all the same so that those who had AIDS didn't feel they were any different to the others.We had a great time getting to know the children, playing with them, just hugging them andgiving them love. We left that place and felt as though we were actually the ones who had been blessed by the time.
Thursday - we went back to God's Golden Acre orphanage and had quite a atime. We started our afternoon there by all shifting rubble. I had fun with the pick axe, loosening all the rubble, and the shovel, shoveling away loose dirt, gravel and what other things come from when you demolish a building, shoveled them into a wheel barrow that soon got emptied into a pick up and taken away. We did that for a couple of hours and hey! Now my back is still sore but I'm quite ok. Had dinner there and did another program with the children. Oh, and in the morning we went to a high school called Sbukosezwe which is our choir school. We shared some testimonies with them then the principal, hearing how much we enjoyed them, had the choir and the choir director come up and render us a song. We didn't get to go into the classrooms but we did arrange to come back and do that.
Friday - woke up and felt I really couldn't get up coz my body was stiff, but we had quite a long day that day. Left early to go another high school at 7:30 (our usual time to go to high schools) called Luthay. This school heard that we had been in town for four weeks and yet they hadn't known. They were quite upset with that so they said that they would give us more time than all the other schools to do our program. So we did our open air things then broke up into teams of two (I went with Chris) and went into classrooms. We had a good time as we did our favorite Zulu song with them then the Banana song (get me to show you some time) and Chris and I shared our testimonies and got them to ask us questions. we flew back to the church at 10:00 so that we could be there for the course at least a quarter of it, had our small group time with them, then flew off again at 12:30, scones and banana in hand as our lunch to go back to Sbukosezwe to do the same thing. The kids asked usreally good questions and we saw some students save that day as well. Praise God because His word never returns to Him void but always accomplishes the things for which He has sent it out. Arlen was gracious to us and allowed us to have the afternoon off.
It does sound like a lot of things, doesn't it? But you know, I think that biggest discipleship going on is actually within the team. Yes, God has brought us here to serve Him here, but I know that He is also dealing a lot with our hearts. My heart - the teams heart. Even jsut hearing from the girls their own personal struggles and how they have dealt with it, I know that God is growing each and every one of our DTS students even just as I look at their lives and see the change within them. Their speech, their actions are all so different from where it had been two months before. This sort of thing really just throws to God and to becoming dependent and trusting of Him and it has made them more Christ-like everyday. And with all the struggles, the trials and overcoming it, it has produced so much Godly character in us. And this is what the DTS is really all about because these young people are going to go back to their churches, their families with their changed lived andbecome world changers in that way. Become living testimonies to their non-Christian friends and families and causing damage in the enemy's kingdom.
That's all that I have for this week. I pray that God will bless each and every one of you. Please continue to pray for me as well. I need to seek His guidance as to what ministry He has for me within YWAM Perth after this outreach.
God bless you!
Your servant and Christ's,
Kristine
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