To say that I went into my community engagement portion of the semester @ the Mpophomeni Family Center without some anxiety, I would be lying. It's not so much that I was feeling unprepared, but more overwhelmed by the task that lay ahead. Over the first three days we were afforded this opportunity to study under Francis. Personally I planned on taking full advantage of his knowledge and experience in a field that is truly exciting to me. He has over 30 years of being a consultant to communities, in which he uses his skills to try and empower them to dream, and through interdependence, vision, and using the resources they have,(as limited as they might be) help them to reach their goals. This provided me with helpful mental preparation going into last week Thursday and Friday in the township. The other six people have the privilege of working at Ethembeni with are:
-Eli Johnerson -Alyssa Donahue -Cynthia Johnson -Kailey Hopkins -Jamie Hunter -Alex Gennaro
The first verse we chose to reflect on and pray throughout day one was 1 John 3:16- "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." In reflecting on this verse throughout the day, we kept our hearts united and in the right place. As we approached the center excitement filled me. It was going to be a good day, I knew it. We walked into the E.C.D. (Early Childhood Development) and jumped head first into the fray. And by fray I mean snotty, (literal snot) energetic children. They were so receptive climbing right up into our laps and touching my beard and marveling at my leg hair. (both seem to be foreign sites for them) We spent most of our morning with them. Once nap time hit, we got some good time with the mentors and leaders of the family center to talk about what our shared vision should be over the month we will have there. This time was invaluable in helping to unite us all under a common goal of advancing the center and the community.
The vision that we agreed upon was a mural of the world,and many different areas of organization; in a potential child play therapy room and a storage closet. In all after the first day, I left feeling so blessed and full of love for these children of God. Can’t wait to be back tomorrow!
Friday, day two, we got down to business. We hopped right back in with the preschoolers in the morning. After their morning breakfast, we got to work on the play therapy room and church closet organization projects. It was so awesome to work with this group of people. Our determination fueled each other on. We accomplished so much in one afternoon. We emptied the storage rooms and re-organized the church closet. It was at this point that we realistically started thinking about this mural project, and how that would end up happening. We decided that we would be in need of overhead sheets and of course, an overhead. Where we would get these? WHO KNOWS. That’s where God came in! :) As the girls were organizing the office, (the mentors were at a training session so we had free reign to put things in order) we hear screams of joy. In their venture they had found overhead sheets of the world.
Step one: overhead sheets of the continents and countries CHECK
Being the voice of reason, Eli reminded that we still are in need of an overhead. After fifteen more minutes of cleaning in their little office, they had found a brand new and never been used overhead still in its original packaging.
Step two: OVERHEAD!
God provides! It was definitely an encouraging time for our group to know that God is working along side us!
In the afternoon, the area high schools get out and many come to hang out at the center. So along with organization, our game plan was to take photos of each child and student. In our limited exposure to the center, we realized that many of the workers themselves don’t know the names of all the children, so collectively we decided a photo shoot was in order. So after snapping shots of each child and kicking the futbol around on the yard, day two was complete. A much needed weekend awaited.
Saturday involved some fun downtown shopping experience. Local vendors galore! Eli and I had some male bonding time, and I ended up investing in my first tank (a big deal for a Michigander) and some cool shoes. Also tried ate at Wimpy for the first time. Yum!
Sunday was a down day, just with some reflection time and mental preparation for the week ahead. It was also the day that we found out that Francis’ brother passed on to glory. So he is at home in Kenya for this week and returns on Saturday. Keep him in your prayers. This man’s heart is so beautiful, he has already become such a good friend in only week.
Monday involved an 8 hour class once again preparing and equipping us with tools and signposts as we approach another week.
Today was day number three at Mpophomeni. This was in reality the first REAL day at our site, because the mentors, (that were a big asset and reason behind feeling like this was the service site I was meant for) were actually there. I am paired with a studly fellow named Zwelihle. He is a 25 year old Zulu man who has lived in the township for 15 years now and has worked at the center since it’s conception 2 years ago. The game plan we came into the day envisioning ended up quite different, but flexibility is the name of the game, ESPECIALLY in Africa. Eli, his mentor Nhlakanipho, Zwe and I went to an area High school to check up on a student from the center. This experience was interesting for the fact that Eli and I felt all eyes on us as the only Caucasians in the whole school. Girls were giggling, guys were stone faced for the most part, with the few exceptions saying “what’s up,” or the occasional handshake. We just checked up on a student with his teacher. Talked about grades and their relationships at school. Later we also went touring the township with some German fellows/tourists who were mapping out a route for their run/dribble from Hamburg, Germany to Jo-burg for the World Cup. Today we were also able to incorporate some of the tools that Francis instilled. Relationships are truly being built. I am so excited for what God is doing in and through us, but also the lessons being taught to us via the community. God is so faithful. I feel so blessed to be doing His work in such a beautiful place. He is so gracious to use a broken vessel like me.
This week please pray Philippians 2:2-4 over my group!
“Then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
Shalom friends!
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