Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all had an amazing Christmas!
Christmas in South Africa looked a little different obviously, but it was so great! As much as I missed (and still do) my family, friends, all the traditions, and even the snow back home, I am so grateful I got to spend Christmas in South Africa with amazing people God has placed in my life!
On Christmas Eve, we had a relaxing morning, spent reading and of course at the beach. That afternoon, some of our friends came by and we had a beautiful time in worship and sharing testimonies. God is reminding me yet again that when Jesus is your everything, you have everything in common with your brothers and sisters in Christ. It really doesn’t matter how well you think you know someone, we are still called to testify of His goodness and all He is revealing to you. Later that night, we ate brownies, sorted laundry, drank hot chocolate, and decorated our 1 foot tall Christmas tree! Different, yet so perfect.
On Christmas, we woke up, read the birth of Jesus in Luke, had a great breakfast (wheat cereal) and got ready for church. We headed to church and were so welcomed! The worship was amazing, with African dancing and classic Christmas songs. After church it was so sweet to get to know more people from the community and learn more about Africa! Then we came home and went to the beach! Had to experience an African Christmas to the fullest. Then we went to a families homes for lunch. They were so kind to invite us to the Christmas lunch, and welcome us into their home. We had a big lunch on a beautiful deck looking to the ocean! It was perfect in so many ways and I am so so grateful to this sweet family who treated us as family and made Christmas so special! Later that night, we did white elephant, ate snack and had Christmas crackers! We spent time remembering the gift of Jesus coming as a baby and thanking Him for the gift we never deserved. He is what Christmas is all about, whether I’m in Canada or in South Africa or anywhere, He is always what Christmas is about. And although I miss all the traditions back home, like a Christmas Eve walk that isn’t really a walk to my family, or sledding with cousins, or a big dinner with the family you know, God has taught me so much through lack of tradition, making new memories and loving new people. While tradition is so sweet and I am already excited of all those things next year, it was beautiful to be reminded of how God loves to interrupt routine and show you something new. He is always revealing Himself to those who are searching for Him. It doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing, you can always be open and searching for the God who loves to give. He loves to give Himself to you!
Although it felt like we had just arrived in Transhaven, the day after Christmas we packed up and headed to Liv Village. We arrived and were welcomed into a beautiful place that immediately felt like home. With a nice living room, kitchen and big dinner table, we feel so at home here. Liv Village is an orphanage that welcomes children from the government and provides everything a child needs. They have homes with Mothers who look after the children, schools for all the kids to learn according to their level, horses, fields, a park, and a pond. It is so sweet how Liv Village cares for each child individually and how they create such a family environment for them. They work so hard to give the kids opportunities and care for all the kids despite some hard pasts. While our teams are at Liv we will be running a VBS style camp each day. 2 hours in the morning with the younger kids (3-11) and 2 hours in the afternoon with the older kids (12+). It is so fun to spend the whole day playing games with the kids, especially basketball, which they love and are really good at.
Thank you for reading and supporting me in prayer! Prayer requests for this week would be for all the kids that come to our VBS each day; that they would see the love of Jesus in us and grow in their relationship with Him. Also for another move, we are heading to Kloof on Friday, so prayer that it all goes well would be great! Thank you!!
Also! I am 92% funded, it’s truly amazing what God has provided and I believe He isn’t done. So please pray and consider supporting me for the final 8%! Thank you!
