The Little Things

Written 8/14/12

We have been here for almost 2 weeks now, and in our communities with our host families for about 10 days. We're definitely starting to settle into a routine of home health care in the morning, meals on wheels deliveries at lunch and substance abuse classes for boys on Mondays and Wednesdays and pregnancy prevention and awareness for girls in the afternoon. Our days start promptly at 8 am and if we're lucky, end around 6 pm but most days, we're invited to youth meetings, parties, or just random events that take us until 9 or 10 pm. As you can imagine, our days are extremely long and tiring, but we are forming some incredible relationships as well as learning a ton about the community and city of Lambert's Bay.

In addition to our time in the community, we are each living individually in host families. Every host family has already accepted us as parts of their families, but some of our "family dynamics" are a bit different. Allow me to explain. My team mate, Katie, is with an older woman who lives in the city who seems to know everything going on in the community and tells Katie how much she loves to "communicate." "communication" is her word for talks a lot. She and Katie get along great since Katie loves to talking is very interested in a vast number of subjects. My family on the other hand is a mother and father (Jessica and Nevile), Aurielle who is 26 and has a 6 year old son named Je-Nauvan. Malcolm is 25 and the only make child. Finally, Lucy is the youngest daughter, she's 20 years old. Uncle Nevile is the police captain of Lambert's Bay (so all my moms out there...I'm safe!), Auntie Jess is a house wife (and her house is always perfect and beautiful), Aurielle works for the local government, Malcolm works at the local store, and Lucy works at the french fry factory (the area around Lambert's Bay is great for farming, especially potatoes), and Je-Nauvan loves to rap and run around the house randomly break dancing. The entire family is extremely welcoming, and caring, but the entire family is very quiet. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm anything but quiet. So it's asking a bit longer for me to build a relationship with my host family that is deeper. In addition to them not talking much as a family, the people here speak Africaans (a combination of Dutch and other African languages). I'm doing my absolute best to learn and the teens know English, but Auntie Jess and Je-Nauvan don't speak much English at all. I think the language barrier makes Auntie Jess nervous, but Je-Nauvan just doesn't understand. He thinks if he yells Africaans at me that I will understand better, but in reality, at 6:30 am when he's screaming Africaans at me, he is really lucky he's cute. Even tho my relationship with my host family is building slower than the rest of my teammates, I wouldn't change my host family for the world. Aurielle is getting married next year and they invited me to the wedding. She also told me I have to come and "catch" the next baby she has...yea, that's probably not going to happen but it's still awesome to be told and invited to. Being with a quiet family has forced me to be quieter. When I'm quieter, I'm listening more. When I'm listening more, I'm not just hearing more about those around me, but I hear more from Jesus as well. I spend more time with my Savior and less time on my own, which is so incredibly refreshing and something I'm realizing is crucial to my life and ministry. Even tho I'm quieter here, I'm also more in tune to Jesus' voice simply because I have more time to listen and I would never change that time for the world.

As I spend more time in the community, I am constantly reminded of the twisted mindset and lost ideas of the people who live here. These ideas are decades and centuries in the making. When I realize this reality, I can either let it overwhelm me and discourage me, or I can allow it to change my point of view and let it encourage me in return. Over the past week, nothing has changed. Teen pregnancy rates haven't decreased, the hundreds of people addicted to crystal meth haven't quit cold-turkey, racial prejudices haven't disappeared, BUT small things in different individuals have started to change. Over the past week, my relationship with Lucy has grown from saying hi to her spending 20-30 minutes sitting on my bed at night before she goes to work and after my day is over, just talking about what's going on in our lives. The people of the community now greet us first, when a week ago, they wouldn't even wave back. People in the community that were too nervous to host a "white American" in a colored community, now are upset they didn't open their homes and can't wait until the next team comes and they get to partner with them. The teenage boys are beginning to see my male teammate, Josh, as a mentor and friend and he has had opportunities to show them what it means to be a man of God and to not take advantage of women. The girls, including me, have developed relationships with the young woman here and have been able to pray over them and speak truth into them, affirming who they are and their worth in Christ and not in boys and sex. Individually, these occurrences don't mean a whole ton, but when we add them all together, we can see the beginning of progress and the reassurance of hope for the future. If I could encourage you in any way this week, know that the little things you discount and think are nothing, are everything and Jesus is working them together for His glory in His timing. I might not see change in Lambert's Bay in the next 4 weeks, but that doesn't mean the small things I am part of here aren't adding up in the Kingdom. And the same is true for your ministry and in your life. God is moving and using everything you do and say. Find joy and encouragement in the little advancements of faith or relationships or whatever God is putting on your heart. Don't be discouraged because you have been praying for 2 years and haven't seen God completely change a life or a situation. Rejoice in the small things, find hope in the future, and never let go of the promise that God is for you and His timing is always perfect.