Update from the beloved country.

I can't believe we're already on our fourth week of outreach.  How time flies!  It's been an amazing first three weeks as well.  The Lord has truly blessed me with such an amazing team.  Every night we cook dinner and eat together and spend a great amount of time investing in each other's lives and deepening our friendships.  I believe it's a reflection of the passage when Jesus is talking to his disciples in John chapter 13 I believe, verses 34-35.  He tells his disciples to 'love each other, as I have loved you.  That way the world will know that you are my disciples.'  Team South Africa has done an amazing job at adopting this mindset.

A recent highlight from this week was yesterday in which we split up into two teams and walked around the community of Mbonswini, where the church we work with is located.  We did two separate walks of approximately two hours each.  On the first our team was walking the streets and noticed this man below (named Elfas) and two women walking with a wheelbarrow.  After a few attempts to ask if we could help with whatever they were doing (they didn't speak english), one of the women motioned for us to follow her, so we went and ended up at their house.  There they introduced us to the grandfather of the family, named John.  We were able to pray for his head and shoulder to be healed and also for another woman in the family (not sure what relation) for the entire left side of her boy to be healed of paralyzation.  We didn't see any healing take place but what a blessing it was to be able to talk with them, pray for them, and bless them.  After the mood being somewhat awkward at the beginning, things began to loosen up and become very relaxed.  They were extremely welcoming and even participated in us praying for healing.  As we prepared to leave, Elfas (pictured below) climbed an avocado tree in front of their house and started chopping off branches.  To our surprise, they joyfully gave us two bags full of avocados and two bunches of bananas, all the while saying 'praise Jesus!'  We plan to return to their house in the coming weeks and bake them food to return the blessing and extend the relationship.  Hopefully they will join us at the local church before we leave.  Pray for this!

After the first round, we went back to the church for lunch before heading out again.  After lunch my group walked the opposite direction and immediately ran into a gentlemen by the name of Mishak Khumalo.  He invited us down to his house and he began to tell us much of his story.  He is a fifty year old man who is unable to work because of an injury to his left arm.  Thus, we lives with his mother and his nephew and niece who are orphans.  Oddly enough, we recognized the kids from a feeding the previous week.  It was difficult to listen to Mishak's story of how he grew up in Mbon, moved to Johannesburg but was homeless, and then returned to Mbon only to live with his mother and not work.   A prayer point for his situation would be that he a) is able to find a job or b) receives the grant he is hoping for from the government so that he will be able to support himself.   It would be nice to see him at church sometime but he mentioned how he prays for himself but doesn't involve himself with church much anymore.  Regardless, we prayed with him anyway and asked that the Lord would renew and rekindle a relationship with Mishak.  After praying for and blessing him, we set out down the dirt road farther into the community.  At the end of the road, we noticed two little children playing on a hill.  Golden opportunity.  The kids here are all so warm and love to play and receive attention.  One of the best things to do, despite not being able to communicate verbally, is to play with a child and to love them as Jesus did.  After playing with the children for about 20 minutes, this little guy showed up as well.  I'm not sure if his name is Tio or Dio but regardless, he may be one of the cutest little boys I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.  Luckily, I was able to get this shot of him.

Thank you all so much for praying for our team.  This week, we are headed to Swaziland for 5 days.  We will be living with a couple who has 13 kids.  Two of their own, four between the two of them, and 7 of their orphaned nieces and nephews.  The couple has a relationship with 10K homes so I am very excited to meet them!  The husband's name is Petros and I am unaware of the wife's name at this time.  We will be walking with the kids to school, doing work in the school and community, home visits, and simply living with and loving on the family for a few days.  We'll be able to cook and eat meals with all of them and simply enjoy community.  Pray that communication goes well and that everything will go smoothly.  The kids are always in need of warm clothes so as a team, we have all learned to knit (Kat from Germany and Jane from Korea taught us!) and so we have spent many hours the past 2 days trying to finish scarves for the kids.  I never thought I would, but I have now learned to knit a scarf.  Check that off of the bucket list I guess! haha.

Thank you all for your continued prayers.

Blessings.

Jonathan