Trials and Joys

We have passed our halfway point! It’s crazy to think about all that has already happened in the past three weeks here and what God is still going to do throughout the remainder of our time here.

A quick recap of the past week: last Friday night, we had a “social” in the dorms. The dorm that I and seven other girls on our team are ministering in is called Sunnyside. For our social we held two “craft stations”: in one room girls were decorating journals and in the other (the room I was in) girls were creating rosette headbands and necklaces with strips of fabric. In both rooms we had cupcakes, icing & sprinkles to decorate your own cupcakes. That night, as my ministry partner and I were walking a girl back to her room she said, “I love when you guys come because you bring so much light. I always have fun with you, but it’s like a good fun, and you don’t feel bad about it tomorrow.”

On Saturday, we went to a rugby game: the Lions vs. the Sharks. I didn’t really understand all the rules of the game, but it was still fun to watch. There was so much energy, one girl on our team compared the intensity to that of the Superbowl. And we literally parked our Quantum (van) in some bushes. On Sunday after church, we visited an African Craft Market, which thankfully we will be going back to before our time here is through.

On Monday morning, I woke up with a runny nose and sneezing. I wrongly dismissed it as allergies, and our team headed to Pretoria (one of SA’s capitals) for a “Vision Day” with all the other CCP teams from Augusta, Atlanta, and Indianapolis. When we returned from Pretoria, a small group of us went to the grocery store, and while there my condition got gradually worse. On Monday night, I stayed home from campus to rest, hoping that would do the trick.

Much to my dismay, when I woke up Tuesday morning I felt even worse and decided to see a doctor. Luckily, one of my close friends, Erika, was also going to the doctor that day so I wouldn’t be alone. To be honest, I was quite nervous to go to the doctor in South Africa, but the experience was pain-free, though somewhat different from what it’s like to go to the doctor in the States.

My symptoms were as follows: sneezing, coughing, headache, dizziness, fevers, body aches, extreme exhaustion, and decreased appetite/nausea after eating. The doctor told me I did not have the “proper flu” but something more along the lines of a sinus infection. He prescribed me four different medications: an antibiotic, a probiotic, something for the sinuses, and something else for fever/pain. After having taking the medication for 24 hours, I felt significantly better, so for all of you who are worrying right now, stop – I’m better!

We weren’t the first to get sick in the house, as a few of our teammates were feeling under the weather last week. When sickness starting spreading around our house, one of our leaders, Kristen Moore, told us that if it was God’s will for us to be sick, we would be and if it wasn’t His will, we wouldn’t be. Before he created the earth, God knew who would be sick this week in June 2012.

Even still, sitting around the house for 3 days can begin to wear on a person, and Satan’s lies started creeping in. “Why did you have to get sick? You weren’t careful enough. While you’re sitting around the house doing nothing, everyone else is having fruitful times of ministry on campus. You have to hurry up and get well so you can ‘catch up’. The team is doing fine without you; they don’t miss you and they certainly don’t need you.”

Tuesday night, which seemed like the peak of my sickness, I remember asking Erika, “How can God get glory from us being sick?” We were easily able to list off many possibilities: maybe our ministry partners were getting to have conversations they wouldn’t have if we were there; maybe we just needed to rest in the Lord and this was the only way we would stop DOING. We listed many more than this, all of which smashed the lies that Satan had been whispering. Yes, God DOES love you and yes, this is a part of God’s plan. God’s sovereignty doesn’t change just because we are sick!

Despite the discomfort of being sick, much less in a different country, I have really been blessed to experience the love of my team this week. People who have sacrificed their schedules to take me to the doctor, who have gone to the store to get me medicine and soup and ginger ale, who have checked my temperature (which is in Celsius), who have gotten me extra blankets, who have let me borrow their iPods and computers, who brought me a pineapple, who have tried to make sure I am as comfortable as possible, who have let their own food get cold while fixing me soup, who have checked on me and just sat with me, who have taken over my various responsibilities whether it was worship for the week or making the grocery list, who have read God’s Word to me, who have let me know that I am missed on campus, who have encouraged me, and especially who have prayed for me. Thursday, the girls on the team circled their chairs around my bedroom window and opened the windows so that I could still participate in the conversation from my bed.

This isn’t to say that I enjoyed being sick by any means. Of course I would have preferred to have been well and go about business as usual with my team. But I do believe that God’s plan is always perfect, and if that means that I had to be sick for a period, then I am thankful.

On Friday, we got the opportunity to visit Alexandra, a township outside of Johannesburg where we would be doing our mercy ministry on Monday and Tuesday. The place we will be working is called Rays of Hope, whose mission is mainly to help women be able to make an income to support their families. The women hand-make baskets, bags, headbands. We also got to visit an orphanage where all of the children were HIV positive. The level of poverty is striking when compared to Johannesburg, which is just a short drive away. It is almost like another world; the people literally do not have electricity in their homes.

On Saturday morning, the boys asked us to stay in our rooms until 9:30 while they fixed us breakfast. They literally thought of everything – they set the tables, had brought in some flowers, and had relaxing music playing. Some guys even woke up at 7:30am to begin preparing breakfast, which is a real sacrifice since Saturday is our day to sleep in. They waited on us hand and foot; we truly cannot express how blessed we are to have brothers who care for us so well.

Saturday we went to a lion and rhino park where we got to see a lot of wildlife and even got to play with some baby lions! That night for dinner we went to a place called Carnivores where we ate many different kinds of meat: kudu, crocodile, impala, zebra, lamb, gemsbok, and the usual pork, chicken, and beef.

Sunday we went to church in Alexandra, which was an experience we all loved. The church met in a warehouse; the same warehouse that Rays of Hope uses. It was cold, as there was  no heat, but no one minded. We were literally dancing in a circle in celebration of Jesus – we all loved it!

Today we went back to Alex (what the locals call it) to Rays of Hope and worked most of the day cleaning and painting the bathroom and another room. We will be returning there tomorrow.

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers. Please pray for the health of our team, as many of our team members are getting sick. Also pray for the Joint Winter Conference or JWC, which is an event put on by Campus Outreach in Johannesburg, similar to our New Year’s Conference. Please pray that the Lord would break down any barriers so that students would be able to attend the conference and that the Lord would capture their hearts while there.

Also, check out our team's blog at: http://ccpteam2012.blogspot.com