small break throughs

Praise the Lord, I'm seeing some break-throughs! Each day I learn a volume of new things and have no way to properly express all that's in my heart and in my head. I'll tell you two examples:

 

One day at Capricorn Teen Club (this week), there was a low attendance and I got to spend some quality time with about 4 of the regular girls… one of which has been testing me a lot (her name- Viveline). She would ask me a question just to see how I'd respond, she'd talk in Afrikaans to her friends so I wouldn't know what she was saying (I promptly told her that was rude and she needed to speak in English), and would keep her distance no matter how much love I showed her. I prayed and prayed that the Lord would soften her heart and warm up to me. My prayers were definitely answered when Vive came into Club this day with a smile on her face, she planted her chair right next to me and would laugh and giggle with me throughout our craft time. I felt like she was a brand new child! Later that day, I was asking two of the girls who they lived with, if their families were Christians… taking no assumption about their situations and trying to learn more about them. One of the girls said, "I live with my mom and dad and my older brother ….and Viveline and her brother are our foster children." My simple question to someone I presumed was unrelated to my former-problem-child had led me to understand Vive's situation a little more. I was an outsider, someone new and someone in authority; her foster-situation often brings her in and out of homes, she doesn't trust easily, she certainly had reason to test me. I can't begin to describe how much hurt these teens carry.

 

Another example of lessons learned… The Xhosa People keep their distance.

I work with Blacks (Xhosa speaking people), the Colored Community (mixed races, native South Africans), and White Native South Africans. Each are full of their own cultural differences and somehow (not always peacefully) live in the same square mile. So, one day after the SMBC Student Ministry Dollar-a-Day pledge, Avril asked me to share the good news of 51 new DADs pledged from one youth group… mine! So, I stood up at our big training session, told all the Life Skills Educators how I was called to South Africa (amidst tears), how our church did a Christmas project/offering for Living Hope DAD program and that now our youth have caught the vision and are giving sacrificially. I was so proud to be the one to give the good news and tell the LSEs just how much I believe in them and that there were LOTS of people in Alabama believing in them and praying for them. I was beaming with pride and excitement when one of the LSEs (Xhosa speaking) pulled me aside and asked if she could confess to me. As I stood their, she told me that up until she heard me speak and heard my heart, she didn't like me. She didn't want to talk to me and had lots of preconceived ideas about why I was at Living Hope. She said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have felt like that toward you and should have given you a chance." I asked her if I'd done or said anything to offend her. She said I hadn't. It was simply because I am white, an American, and have been placed in a leadership role in Living Hope. I was crushed. In a way I wished I didn't know her initial distaste for me, but I was also glad to learn about that culture and see that it takes a bit of 'proving yourself' to enter into any sort of relationship with these people (work or personal). I'm recovered from the shock of that now, but oh how eye-opening and educational all these new experiences have been.